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THE  SHIELD 


THE  NEWEST  BORZOI  BOOKS 

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THE  JOURNAL  OF  LEO  TOLSTOI  (1895- 
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THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  A  SUPER- 
TRAMP 

By  William  H.  Davies 
With  a  Preface  by  Bernard  Shaw 


THE  SHIELD 


Edited  by 

MAXIM  GORKY 
LEONID  ANDREYEV 

and 
FYODOR  SOLOGUB 

With  a  Foreword  By 
WILLIAM   ENGLISH   WALLING 

Translated  from 
the  Russian  by 
A.  Yarmolinsky 


New  York  ALFRED  A.  KNOPF  Mcmxvii 


COPYRIGHT,  1917,  BY 
ALFRED  A.  KNOPF 


PRINTED   IN    THE   UNITED   STATES   OF   AMERICA 


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FOREWORD 

This  is  not  merely  a  book  about  the  Russian 
Jews.  It  is  a  marvellous  revelation  of  the 
Russian  soul.  It  shows  not  only  that  the  over- 
whelming majority  of  the  Russian  intellect- 
uals, including  nearly  all  of  her  brilliant  lit- 
erary geniuses,  are  opposed  to  the  persecution 
of  the  Jews  or  any  other  race,  but  that  they 
have  a  capacity  for  sympathy  and  understand- 
ing of  humanity  unequalled  in  any  other  land. 
U  I  do  not  know  of  any  book  where  the  genius 
and  heart  of  Russia  is  better  displayed.  Not 
only  her  leading  litterateurs  but  also  her 
leading  statesmen  and  economists  are  repre- 
sented— and  all  of  them  speak  as  with  a  single 
voice. 

I  am  writing  on  the  16th  of  March.  Yes- 
terday the  news  reached  the  world  that  Rus- 
sia had  probably  at  last  succeeded  in  emanci- 
pating itself  from  the  German-sustained  and 
German-supported  autocracy  which  so  long 
has  been  renounced  by  practically  all  classes 

V 

V 
i. 

t> 

j 


vi FOREWORD 

of  the  Russian  people.  I  have  pointed  out 
elsewhere  that  this  Second  Act  of  the  great 
drama  of  social  transformation  in  Russia  was 
to  be  expected  in  connection  with  the  present 
war.  It  is  not  surprising  that  this  Act,  like 
the  first — the  Revolution  of  1905 — is  accom- 
panied by  an  irresistible  demand  for  the  cessa- 
tion of  the  persecution  of  the  Jews  and  other 
minority  races.  The  first  Duma,  that  of  1906, 
demanded  unanimously  that  all  these  races  be 
given  absolutely  the  same  rights  as  other  Rus- 
sians. The  rise  of  Liberalism  during  the  war, 
in  connection  with  military  necessities,  had  al- 
ready abolished  a  number  of  Jewish  disabili- 
ties. There  is  no  longer  any  question  that  the 
Jews  will  be  given  equality.  Without  excep- 
tion the  anti-Semitic  organisations  were  sup- 
ported by  the  pro- German  party,  the  money 
which  was  alone  responsible  for  the  pogroms 
was  furnished  by  these  same  organisations, 
and  now  this  Party  and  these  organisations  are 
forever  overthrown.  It  was  Dr.  Dubrovin, 
for  example,  who  year  by  year  carried  out  the 
murders  of  the  leading  representatives  of  the 
Jews  in  the  Duma  and  who  almost  succeeded 
in  having  Milukov  assassinated  a  few  weeks 


FOREWORD vii 

ago.  Dubrovin  was  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant of  the  sinister  forces  supported  by  the 
money  of  the  German  Czarina's  court  party — 
which  was  organised  by  Baron  Fredericks  and 
other  notorious  Germans  masquerading  as 
Russians. 

The  re-birth  of  Russia  which  is  now  taking 
place  cannot  be  understood  apart  from  the 
Jewish  problem.  As  Russia's  leading  Liberal 
statesman,  Prof.  Paul  Milukov — who  is  well 
and  favorably  known  in  America  because  of 
extended  visits  here — points  out  in  the  article 
he  contributes  to  the  present  volume,  the  anti- 
Semitic  parties  coincide  with  the  anti-consti- 
tutional parties.  At  first  this  seems  a  strange 
and  unaccountable  fact,  but  a  brief  glance  at 
the  history  of  other  countries  will  show  that 
the  party  standing  for  the  persecution  of  weak 
foreign  neighbours  and  the  oppression  of 
minority  races  within  and  without  a  country 
has  always  and  everywhere  been  the  party  of 
reaction.  As  Milukov  says,  there  was  no  need 
for  an  anti-constitutional  movement  until  there 
was  a  constitutional  movement.  As  soon  as 
Liberalism  appeared,  however,  and  gained 
support  among  the  masses,  it  was  necessary  to 


viii  FOREWORD 


fabricate  some  counter  movement,  and  the  gov- 
ernmental bureaucracy  fixed  upon  anti-Semi- 
tism as  a  primitive  means  of  appealing  to  the 
masses,  and  so  of  bridling  them.  It  may  be 
further  pointed  out  that  this  systematic  prop- 
aganda against  democracy  was  almost  non- 
existent in  Russia  until  it  had  become  thor- 
oughly organised  and  successful  in  Germany. 
Both  Kovalevsky  and  Milukov  demonstrate  in 
the  present  volume  that  anti-Semitism  became 
an  important  factor  in  Russian  life  only  after 
the  middle  of  the  Nineteenth  Century — that  is 
to  say,  after  the  final  victory  of  Prussian  Reac- 
tionism  over  German  Liberalism  in  1849  (a 
victory  which  has  lasted  to  the  present  time) 
— and  still  more,  after  the  great  military  vic- 
tories of  Prussia  from  1864  to  1870  had  put 
Prussian  militarism  in  the  saddle  and  had 
made  it  the  dominating  force  in  the  Russian 
court  and  Russian  bureaucracy. 

However,  the  intelligence,  energy,  and  cour- 
age of  the  Russian  Liberals  has  entirely 
thwarted  this  scheme  to  divide  the  Russian 
people.  The  bureaucracy  has  gained  almost 
no  support  among  any  section  of  the  Russian 
nation,  except  its  own  narrow  circles,  either 


FOREWORD ix 

for  its  persecution  of  the  Jews  or  its  oppres- 
sion of  the  Poles,  Finns,  Tartars,  Armenians 
and  other  races.  On  the  contrary,  the  anti- 
Semitic  propaganda  has  reacted  against  its 
promoters.  A  considerable  number,  though 
by  no  means  a  majority,  of  the  Russian  Lib- 
erals are  Jews,  and  Russian  Liberals  do  not  at 
all  endeavour  to  hide  this  fact.  The  conse- 
quence is  that  the  union  of  the  Russian  Lib- 
erals with  all  the  persecuted  races  has  been  all 
the  more  firmly  cemented.  And  just  as  all 
Russian  Liberals  are  ardent  supporters  of  the 
war  against  Germany,  so  practically  all  the 
leaders  of  the  Russian  Jews  are  equally  pa- 
triotic— in  spite  of  the  fact  that  many  forms 
of  persecution  have  remained,  and,  further- 
more, new  forms  of  persecution  have  been  in- 
vented since  the  war.  Though  the  German 
agitation  in  America  has  won  over  a  large  part 
of  the  Russian  Jews  in  this  country  to  the  Ger- 
man cause,  this  agitation  has  had  no  such  suc- 
cess in  Russia,  unless  among  a  relatively  small 
proportion  of  the  Jewish  population. 

It  is  known  that  the  anti-Semitic  agitation 
in  Russia  has  taken  hold  of  only  a  small  pro- 
portion of  the  Russian  people  among  the  semi- 


FOREWORD 


criminal  population  of  the  cities  and  towns. 
It  is  notorious  that  the  pogroms  were  often 
organised  and  carried  out  by  the  secret  police 
and  the  cossacks,  and  that  in  other  instances 
they  were  executed  by  bands  of  a  few  hun- 
dred bribed  toughs,  called  by  educated  Rus- 
sians "the  black  hundreds."  This  social  ele- 
ment is  what  we  would  ordinarily  call  in 
America  the  "mob,"  and  it  certainly  does  not 
constitute  one  per  cent,  of  the  population  in 
Russia  or  in  any  other  country.  Gorky  refers 
to  it  as  "the  populace":  "In  addition  to  the 
people,  there  is  also  the  'populace,'  something 
standing  outside  of  social  classes  and  outside 
of  civilisation,  and  united  by  the  dark  sense 
of  hatred  against  all  that  surpasses  its  under- 
standing and  is  defenceless  against  brute  force. 
I  speak  of  the  populace  which  thus  defines  itself 
in  the  words  of  Pushkin: 

"  'We  are  insidious  and  shameless, 
Ungrateful,  faint-hearted  and  wicked; 
At  heart  we  are  cold,  sterile  eunuchs, 
Traducers,  born  to  slavery/  " 

The  refusal  of  the  Russian  people  to  be 
either  bribed  or  deceived  into  hostility  to  the 


FOREWORD xj 

Jews  is  clearly  enough  demonstrated  by  the 
feeling  of  affection  on  the  part  of  most  intelli- 
gent Jews  towards  the  Russian  people.  The 
only  exceptions  are  those  Jews  which  come 
from  the  Polish  cities  far  within  the  Jewish 
Pale  and  do  not  know  the  Russian  people  ex- 
cept by  hearsay.  Unfortunately,  this  is  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  total  of  the  Jews  in 
Russia,  and  it  is  from  these  cities  and  towns 
in  the  heart  of  the  Pale  that  most  of  our  immi- 
grants come.  But  all  the  more  educated 
Jews — and  a  very  large  part  are  educated — all 
those  who  know  Russia  either  by  a  travel  or 
through  Russian  literature  and  newspapers, 
feel  a  deep  affection  for  their  country,  for  in 
spite  of  all,  Russia  belongs  to  them  just  as 
much  as  it  does  to  other  Russians.  One  of 
the  editors  of  the  present  volume,  Fyodor 
Sologub,  says: 

"Whenever  I  met  Russian  Jews  abroad,  I 
always  marvelled  at  the  strangely  tenacious 
love  for  Russia  which  they  preserve.  They 
speak  of  Russia  with  the  same  longing  and 
the  same  tenderness  as  the  Russian  emigrants ; 
they  are  equally  eager  to  return  and  equally 
saddened,  if  the  return  is  impossible.  Where- 


xii  FOREWORD 

fore  should  they  love  Russia,  who  is  so  harsh 
and  inhospitable  toward  them?" 

It  is  useless  for  Americans  to  deceive  them- 
selves into  thinking  that  the  Russian  Jewish 
question  is  either  unimportant  or  incompre- 
hensible from  the  point  of  view  of  our  progress 
and  democracy.  Do  we  not  have  our  negro 
and  Asiatic  problems?  Do  not  the  English 
have  their  Irish  and  Indian  questions?  I  do 
not  suggest  that  the  parallel  is  complete,  but 
it  is  clear  that  the  Russian  writers  in  the  pres- 
ent volume  are  perfectly  correct  in  referring 
both  to  our  negro  question  and  our  question 
of  yellow  labour  as  closely  similar  to  their 
Jewish  problem.  Both  the  brilliant  and  fas- 
cinating discussions  by  Andreyev  and  Mere- 
zhkovsky  will  apply  almost  as  well  to  any  other 
so-called  "race  question"  as  to  that  of  the  Rus- 
sian Jews.  Says  Merezhkovsky : 

"We  would  like  very  much  to  say  that  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  the  Jewish,  Polish,  Ukra- 
inian, Armenian,  Georgian,  question;  that 
there  is  only  one  question — the  Russian.  Yes, 
we  would  like  to,  but  we  cannot;  the  Russian 
people  have  yet  to  earn  the  right  to  say  that, 
and  therein  lies  their  tragedy.  .  .  ." 


FOREWORD xiii 

' '  Judophilism'  and  '  Judophobia'  are  closely 
related.  A  blind  denial  of  a  nationality  en- 
genders an  equally  blind  affirmation  of  it.  An 
absolute  'Nay'  naturally  brings  forth  an  ab- 
solute '  Yea.' " 

"That  is  why  we  say  to  the  'Nationalists': 
'Cease  oppressing  the  non-Russian  element  of 
our  empire,  so  that  we  may  have  the  right  to 
be  Russians,  and  that  we  may  with  dignity 
show  our  national  face,  as  that  of  a  human  be- 
ing, not  that  of  a  beast.  Cease  to  be  'Judo-1' 
phobes'  so  that  we  may  cease  to  be  'Judo- 
philes.' " 

Is  it  not  clear  from  the  recent  discussion  in 
the  British  Parliament  that  the  Irish  problem 
weighs  like  an  almost  intolerable  burden  just 
as  much  upon  the  British  Empire  as  it  does 
upon  Ireland?  Is  it  not  equally  clear  from 
England's  concession  of  a  cotton  tariff  to  In- 
dia that  she  will  be  obliged  for  her  own  sake 
to  make  further  concessions  to  justice  in  that 
country?  And  can  America  ever  hope  to  have 
any  standing  in  the  court  of  nations  as  long 
as  our  infamous  persecution  of  the  negroes  and 
our  atrocious  attitude  towards  Asiatics  con- 
tinues? Nations  can  indulge  themselves  for  a 


xiv FOREWORD 

certain  period  in  such  gross  and  stupid  crimes, 
but  the  longer  the  settlement  is  postponed 
the  greater  the  blood-price  that  must  be  paid 
in  the  end — and  in  the  meanwhile  all  our 
civilisation  is  poisoned,  if  not  actually  rotted, 
by  the  network  of  lies  by  which  the  persecutors 
are  forced  to  defend  their  infamies — lies  which 
are  necessarily  more  far-reaching  and  im- 
pudently false  in  a  democracy  than  they  are 
in  an  autocracy  where  the  existing  system 
maintains  itself  rather  by  force  than  by  public 
opinion. 

But  few  of  us  educated  Americans  have  the 
intellectual  and  moral  courage  of  the  educated 
classes  of  Russia.  We  feel  that  we  can  avoid 
our  moral  and  intellectual  responsibilities  by 
turning  our  back  on  existing  crimes.  It  has 
frequently  been  pointed  out  that  in  spite  of  a 
government  even  more  anti-democratic  than 
that  of  Germany,  the  Russian  people  have  been 
infinitely  more  democratic  than  the  Germans. 
In  the  same  way,  while  the  institutions  of 
America  are  much  further  developed  in  the 
direction  of  general  democracy  than  those  of 
Russia,  the  very  reverse  is  the  case  with  public 
opinion.  The  educated  classes  of  Russia  have 


FOREWORD  xv 

the  courage  and  intelligence  to  call  a  spade  a 
spade.  They  realise  that  they  are  partly  re- 
sponsible for  the  sins  committed  by  the  Russian 
nation,  even  though  they  have  been  powerless 
heretofore  to  remedy  these  conditions  in  the 
face  of  an  armed  and  organised  autocracy, 
backed  by  the  moral,  intellectual  and  military 
force  of  Germany  and  by  the  money  of  France 
and  England.  Andreyev,  for  example,  re- 
gards the  Jewish  problem  as  primarily  a  Rus- 
sian problem.  It  is  one  of  the  chief  burdens, 
if  not  the  chief  burden,  which  has  been  crushing 
the  Russian  nation.  In  this  book  he  says: 

"When  did  the  'Jewish  question'  leap  on 
my  back? — I  do  not  know.  I  was  born  with 
it  and  under  it.  From  the  very  moment  I 
assumed  a  conscious  attitude  towards  life  until 
this  very  day  I  have  lived  in  its  noisome  atmos- 
phere, breathed  in  the  poisoned  air  which  sur- 
rounds all  these  'problems,'  all  these  dark,  har- 
rowing alogisms,  unbearable  to  the  intellect. 

"And  yet  I,  a  Russian  intellectual,  a  happy 
representative  of  the  sovereign  race,  although 
fully  conscious  and  convinced  that  the  'Jewish 
question'  is  no  question  at  all, — I  felt  power- 
less and  doomed  to  the  most  sterile  tribulation 


xvj FOREWORD 

of  spirit.  For,  all  the  clear-cut  arguments  of 
my  intellect,  the  most  fervent  tirades  and 
speeches,  the  sincerest  tears  of  compassion  and 
outcries  of  indignation  unfailingly  broke 
against  a  dull,  unresponsive  wall.  But  all 
powerlessness,  if  it  is  unable  to  prevent  a 
crime,  becomes  complicity;  and  this  was  the 
result:  personally  guiltless  of  any  offence 
against  my  brother,  I  have  become  in  the  eyes 
of  all  those  unconcerned  and  those  of  my 
brother  himself,  a  Cain." 

The  new  Russia  is  being  born  while  I  write 
these  lines,  and  intelligent  Americans  are  dis- 
cussing nothing  else  except  this  great  world 
event — comparable  in  importance  even  to  the 
colossal  war  itself.  If  we  wish  to  understand 
educated  Russia — which  has  brought  about  the 
change — many-sided,  large-hearted  and  intel- 
lectually more  brilliant  perhaps  than  the  ed- 
ucated class  of  any  other  nation,  we  cannot 
do  better  than  to  read  and  think  over  what  that 
galaxy  of  Russian  genius  that  has  composed 
the  present  volume  has  written.  We  must 
not  forget  that  the  educated  class  in  Russia  is 
almost  as  numerous  as  in  the  other  great  na- 
tions, and  perhaps  plays  an  even  more  im- 


FOREWORD  xvii 

portant  role  in  Russia  than  it  does  in  other 
countries.  What  Russia  has  lacked  has  been 
neither  an  educated  class  nor  masses  capable 
and  ready  to  be  trained  to  any  kind  of  mod- 
ern employment,  but  a  great  technically 
trained,  free  and  organised  "intellectual  mid- 
dle class" — an  expression  I  am  forced  to  coin 
for  my  present  purpose.  It  is  hardly  neces- 
sary to  prove  this  assertion.  The  world  is 
well  acquainted  with  Russian  genius  in  litera- 
ture, art,  music,  philosophy,  sociology,  econ- 
omics, history,  and  the  higher  realms  of 
science.  Moreover  Russia  is  not  without 
technological  schools,  but  the  proportion  of 
her  population  employed  in  the  scientific  or- 
ganisation of  industry  and  business  is  insignifi- 
cant in  comparison  with  that  of  other  coun- 
tries— owing,  of  course,  to  the  backward  state 
of  Russian  industry  and  Russian  government. 
But  this  fact,  important  as  it  is,  must  not  ob- 
scure the  equally  important  fact  that  the  edu- 
cated and  cultivated  class  in  Russia,  speaking 
several  languages,  and  personally  familiar 
with  the  civilisation  of  one  or  more  foreign 
countries,  exercises  an  influence  over  Russian 
society  and  Russian  public  opinion  undoubt- 


xviii  FOREWORD 

edly  stronger  than  that  of  any  other  educated 
class  whatever — with  the  possible  exception  of 
that  of  Germany.  We  cannot  hope  to  under- 
stand the  new  Russia  unless  we  understand  the 
character  and  point  of  view  of  the  Russian  "in- 
tellegentsia,"  and  this  is  nowhere  so  clearly, 
succinctly  and  interestingly  set  forth  as  in  "The 
Shield." 

WILLIAM  ENGLISH  WALLING. 

Greenwich,  Connecticut. 


PREFACE 

Published  by  the  Russian  Society  for  the 
Study  of  Jewish  Life  under  the  joint  editor- 
ship of  three  eminent  men-of -letters,  Gorky, 
Andreyev,  and  Sologub,  the  original  Shield 
saw  the  light  of  day  last  year  in  Petro- 
grad.  The  book  consists  of  numerous  studies, 
essays,  stories  and  poems,  all  these  contribu- 
tions to  the  symposium  on  the  Jewish  question 
coming  exclusively  from  the  pen  of  Russian 
authors  of  non-Jewish  birth.  In  making  a 
;tion  for  the  present  volume,  I  have  thought 
it  advisabie~to  give  decided  preference  to  tne 
publicistic  articles  of  the  original  collection. 
Thus,  the  present  version  contains  practical^ 
all  the  various  important  studies  arid  essays^oj 
the  Russian  Shield,  jwhile  most  of  the  stories 
have_beenjomitted,  without  great  detriment  to 
the  book.  I  have  also  had  to  sacrifice,  for 
obvious  reasons,  all  the  poetic  contributions  to 
the  original,  signed  by  such  great  masters  of 
modern  Russian  poetry  as  Balmont,  Bunin, 


PREFACE 

Z.  Hippi^ik  Sologub,  and  Shchepkina-Kuper- 
nik. 

My  thanks  are  due  to  Dr.  Louis  S.  Fried- 
land  and  Professor  Earle  F.  Palmer  for  going 
over  a  considerable  portion  of  the  present  vol- 
ume. 

A.  YAEMOLINSKY. 


CONTENTS 

MAXIM  GORKY,  Russia  and  the  Jews  3 
LEONID  ANDREYEV,  The  First  Step  19 

VLADIMIR   KOROLENKO,  Mr.   Jackson's   Opinion  on  the 
Jewish  Question  37 

PAUL  MILYUKOV,  The  Jewish  Question  in  Russia  55 

M.  BERNATZKY,  The  Jews  and  Russian  Economic  Life 

77 

PRINCE  PAUL  DOLGORUKOV,  The  War  and  the  Status  of 
the  Jew  95 

MAXIM  KOVALEVSKY,  Jewish  Rights  and  Their  Enemies 
103 

The  Jewish  Question  as  a  Rus- 


sian Question  115 

VYACHESLAV   IVANOV,   Concerning  the  Ideology  of  the 
Jewish  Question  125 

MAXIM  GORKY,  The  Little  Boy,  a  Story  133 
FYODOR  SOLOGUB,  The  Fatherland  for  All  143 
VLADIMIR  SOLOVYOV,  On  Nationalism  155 


CONTENTS 


COUNT  IVAN  TOLSTOY,  Concerning  the  Legal  Status  of 
the  Jews  159 

LEONID  ANDREYEV,  The  Wounded  Soldier,  a  Story  165 
CATHERINE  KUSKOVA,  How  to  Help?  171 
S.  YELPATYEVSKY,  The  Homeless  Ones  181 
MICHAEL  ARTZIBASHEF,  The  Jew,  a  Story  193 


RUSSIA  AND  THE  JEWS 


Alexey  Mdksinovich  Pyeshkov,  better 
known  under  the  assumed  name  of  Maxim 
Gorky,  was  born  in  1869.  In  1905  he  was 
arrested  and  imprisoned  because  of  his  politi- 
cal convictions.  After  the  revolutionary  days 
of  1906  he  left  Russia  and  settled  on  the  island 
of  Capri.  At  the  beginning  of  the  present 
war  he  returned  to  Russia  and  took  an  active 
part  in  the  public  life  of  the  country.  He  is 
at  present  residing  in  Petrograd,  where  he  edits 
a  monthly  of  distinctly  radical  tendencies. 


THE  SHIELD 

RUSSIA  AND  THE  JEWS 

BY  MAXIM  GORKY 

FROM  time  to  time — more  often  as 
time  goes  on ! — circumstances  force  the 
Russian  author  to  remind  his  com- 
patriots of  certain  indisputable,  elementary 
truths. 

It  is  a  very  hard  duty : — it  is  painfully  awk- 
ward to  speak  to  grown-up  and  literate  people 
in  this  manner : 

"Ladies  and  gentlemen!  We  must  be  hu- 
mane; humaneness  is  not  only  beautiful,  but 
also  advantageous  to  us.  We  must  be  just; 
justice  is  the  foundation  of  culture.  We 
must  make  our  own  the  ideas  of  law  and  civil 
liberty:  the  usefulness  of  such  an  assimilation 
is  clearly  demonstrated  by  the  high  degree  of 


4         RUSSIA  AND  THE  JEWS 

civilisation  reached  by  the  Western  countries, 
for  instance,  by  England. 

"We  must  develop  in  ourselves  a  moral  tidi- 
ness, and  an  aversion  to  all  the  manifestations 
of  the  brute  principle  in  man,  such  as  the 
wolfish,  degrading  hatred  for  people  of  other 
races.  The  hatred  of  the  Jew  is  a  beastlike, 
brute  phenomenon;  we  must  combat  it  in  the 
interests  of  the  quicker  growth  of  social  senti- 
ments and  social  culture. 

"The  Jews  are  human  beings,  just  like 
others,  and,  like  all  human  beings,  the  Jews 
must  be  free. 

"A  man  who  meets  all  the  duties  of  a  citizen, 
thereby  deserves  to  be  given  all  the  rights  of 
citizenship. 

"Every  human  being  has  an  inalienable 
right  to  apply  his  energy  in  all  the  branches  of 
industry  and  all  the  departments  of  culture, 
and  the  broader  the  scope  of  his  personal  and 
social  activities,  the  more  does  his  country  gain 
in  power  and  beauty." 

There  are  a  number  of  other  equally  ele- 
mentary truths  which  should  have  long  since 
sunk  into  the  flesh  and  blood  of  Russian  so- 
ciety, but  which  have  not  as  yet  done  so. 


MAXIM  GORKY 5 

I  repeat — it  is  a  hard  thing  to  assume  the 
role  of  a  preacher  of  social  proprieties  and  to 
keep  reiterating  to  people:  "It  is  not  good, 
it  is  unworthy  of  you  to  live  such  a  dirty,  care- 
less, savage  life — wash  yourselves  1" 

And  in  spite  of  all  your  love  for  men,  in 
spite  of  your  pity  for  them,  you  are  some- 
times congealed  in  cold  despair  and  you  think 
with  animosity:  "Where  then  is  that  cele- 
brated, broad,  beautiful  Russian  soul?  So 
much  was  and  is  being  said  about  it,  but 
wherein  does  its  breadth,  might  and  beauty 
actively  manifest  itself?  And  is  not  our  soul 
broad  because  it  is  amorphous?  And  it  is 
probably  owing  to  its  amorphousness  that  we 
yield  so  readily  to  external  pressure,  which 
disfigures  us  so  rapidly  and  radically." 

We  are  good-natured,  as  we  ourselves  ex- 
press it.  But  when  you  look  closer  at  our 
good-naturedness,  you  find  that  it  shows  a 
strange  resemblance  to  Oriental  indifference. 

One  of  man's  most  grievous  crimes  is  in- 
difference, inattention  to  his  neighbour's  fate; 
this  indifference  is  pre-eminently  ours. 

The  situation  of  the  Jews  in  Russia,  which 
is  a  disgrace  to  Russian  culture,  is  one  of  the 


6         RUSSIA  AND  THE  JEWS 

results  of  our  carelessness,  of  our  indifference 
to  the  straight  and  just  decrees  of  life. 

In  the  interests  of  reason,  justice,  civilisa- 
tion, we  must  not  tolerate  that  people  without 
rights  should  live  among  us;  we  would  never 
have  tolerated  it,  if  we  had  a  strong  sense  of 
self-respect. 

We  have  every  reason  to  reckon  the  Jews 
among  our  friends ;  there  are  many  things  for 
which  we  must  be  grateful  to  them :  they  have 
done  and  are  doing  much  good  in  those  lines 
of  endeavour  in  which  the  best  Russian  minds 
have  been  engaged.  Nevertheless,  without 
aversion  or  indignation,  we  bear  a  disgraceful 
stain  on  our  consciousness,  the  stain  of  Jewish 
disabilities.  There  is  in  that  stain  the  dirty 
poison  of  slanders  and  the  tears  and  blood  of 
numberless  pogroms. 

I  am  not  able  to  speak  of  anti-Semitism  in 
the  manner  it  deserves.  And  this  not  because 
I  have  not  the  power  or  the  right  words.  It 
is  rather  because  I  am  hindered  by  something 
that  I  cannot  overcome.  I  would  find  words 
biting,  heavy,  and  pointed  enough  to  fling 
them  in  the  face  of  the  man-haters,  but  for 
that  purpose  I  must  descend  into  a  kind  of 


MAXIM  GORKY 


filthy  pit.  I  must  put  myself  on  a  level  with 
people  whom  I  do  not  respect  and  for  whom  I 
have  an  organic  aversion. 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  anti-Semitism  is 
indisputable,  just  as  leprosy  and  syphilis  are, 
and  that  the  world  will  be  cured  of  this  shame- 
ful disease  only  by  culture,  which  sets  us  free, 
slowly  but  surely,  from  ailments  and  vices. 

Of  course,  this  does  not  relieve  me  of  the 
duty  to  combat  in  every  way  the  development 
of  anti-Semitism  and,  according  to  my  powers, 
to  preserve  people  from  getting  infected  by 
it.  The  Jew  of  to-day  is  dear  to  me,  and  I 
feel  myself  guilty  before  him,  for  I  am  one  of 
those  who  tolerate  the  oppression  of  the  Jew- 
ish nation,  the  great  nation,  whom  some  of  the 
most  prominent  Western  thinkers  consider,  as 
a  psychical  type,  higher  and  more  beautiful 
than  the  Russian. 

I  think  that  the  judgment  of  these  thinkers 
is  correct.  To  my  mind,  Jews  are  more 
European  than  the  Russians  are,  because  of 
their  strongly  developed  feeling  of  respect  for 
work  and  man,  if  not  for  any  other  reason.  I 
admire  the  spiritual  steadfastness  of  the  Jew- 
ish nation,  its  manly  idealisms,  its  unconquer- 


8         RUSSIA  AND  THE  JEWS 

able  faith  in  the  victory  of  good  over  evil,  in  the 
possibility  of  happiness  on  earth. 

The  Jews — mankind's  old,  strong  leaven, — 
have  always  exalted  its  spirit,  bringing  into  the 
world  restless,  noble  ideas,  goading  men  to 
embark  on  a  search  for  finer  values. 

All  men  are  equal;  the  soil — is  no  one's,  it 
is  God's ;  man  has  the  right  and  the  power  to 
resist  his  fate,  and  we  may  stand  up  even 
against  God, — all  this  is  written  in  the  Jewish 
Bible,  one  of  the  world's  best  books.  And 
the  commandment  of  love  for  one's  neighbour 
is  also  an  ancient  Jewish  commandment,  just 
as  are  all  the  rest,  "thou  shalt  not  kill"  among 
them. 

In  1885  the  German- Jewish  Union  in  Ger- 
many published  "The  Principles  of  the  Jew- 
ish Moral  Doctrine."  Here  is  one  of  these 
principles:  "Judaism  teaches:  'Love  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself  and  announces  this,  com- 
mandment of  love  for  all  mankind  to  be  the 

» 

fundamental  principle  of  Jewish  religion.  It, 
therefore,  forbids  all  kinds  of  hostility,  envy, 
ill-will,  and  unkindly  treatment  of  any  one, 
without  distinction  of  race,  nationality  and  re- 
ligion." 


MAXIM  GORKY 9 

These  principles  were  ratified  by  350  rabbis, 
and  published  just  at  the  time  of  the  anti- 
Jewish  pogroms  in  Russia. 

"Judaism  teaches  respect  for  the  life,  the 
health,  the  forces  and  the  property  of  one's 
neighbour." 

I  am  a  Russian.  When,  alone  with  myself, 
I  calmly  scrutinise  my  merits  and  demerits, — 
it  seems  to  me  that  I  am  intensely  Russian. 
And  I  am  deeply  convinced  that  there  is  much 
that  we  Russians  can  and  ought  to  learn  from 
the  Jews. 

For  instance,  the  seventh  paragraph  of  the 
"Principles  of  the  Jewish  Moral  Doctrine" 
says:  "Judaism  commands  us  to  respect 
work,  to  take  part  by  either  physical  or  mental 
labour  in  the  communal  work,  to  seek  for  life's 
goods  in  constant  productive  and  creative 
work.  Judaism,  therefore,  teaches  us  to  take 
care  of  our  powers  and  abilities,  to  perfect 
them  and  apply  them  actively.  It,  therefore, 
forbids  all  idle  pleasure  not  based  on  labour, 
all  idleness  which  hopes  for  the  help  of  others." 

This  is  beautiful  and  wise,  and  this  is  just 
what  we  Russians  lack.  Oh,  if  we  could  edu- 
cate our  unusual  powers  and  abilities,  if  we  had 


10       RUSSIA  AND  THE  JEWS 

the  will  to  apply  them  actively  in  our  chaotic, 
untidy  existence,  which  is  terribly  blocked  up 
with  all  kinds  of  idle  clack  and  home-spun 
philosophy,  and  which  gets  more  and  more  sat- 
urated with  silly  arrogance  and  puerile  brag- 
ging. Somewhere  deep  in  the  Russian  soul 
— no  matter  whether  it  is  the  "master's"  or  the 
muzhik's — there  lives  a  petty  and  squalid  de- 
mon of  passive  anarchism,  who  infects  us  with 
a  careless  and  indifferent  attitude  toward  work, 
society,  people,  and  ourselves. 

I  believe  that  the  morality  of  Judaism  would 
assist  us  greatly  in  overcoming  this  demon, — 
if  only  we  have  the  will  to  combat  him. 

In  my  early  youth  I  read — I  have  forgotten 
where — the  words  of  the  ancient  Jewish  sage 
— Hillel,  if  I  remember  rightly: 

"If  thou  art  not  for  thyself,  who  will  be 
for  thee?  But  if  thou  art  for  thyself  alone — 
wherefore  art  thou?"  x 

The  inner  meaning  of  these  words  impressed 
me  with  its  profound  wisdom,  and  I  inter- 
preted them  for  myself  in  this  manner:  I 

i  "If  I  am  not  for  myself  who  is  for  me?  And  being  for 
my  own  self,  what  am  I?"  "Pirqe  Aboth,"  I,  14.— Trans- 
lator's Note. 


MAXIM  GORKY 11 

must  actively  take  care  of  myself,  that  my  life 
should  be  better,  and  I  must  not  impose  the 
care  of  myself  on  other  people's  shoulders; 
but  if  I  am  going  to  take  care  of  myself  alone, 
of  nothing  but  my  own  personal  life, — it  will 
be  useless,  ugly  and  meaningless. 

This  thought  ate  its  way  deep  into  my  soul, 
and  I  say  now  with  conviction:  Hillel's  wis- 
dom served  me  as  a  strong  staff  on  my  road, 
which  was  neither  even  nor  easy.  It  is  hard 
to  say  with  precision  to  what  one  owes  the  fact 
that  one  kept  on  his  feet  on  the  entangled  paths 
of  life,  when  tossed  by  the  tempests  of  mental 
despair,  but  I  repeat — Hillel's  serene  wisdom 
assisted  me  many  a  time. 

I  believe  that  Jewish  wisdom  is  more  all- 
human  and  universal  than  any  other,  and  this 
not  only  because  of  its  immemorial  age,  not 
only  because  it  is  the  first-born,  but  also  be- 
cause of  the  powerful  humaneness  that  satu- 
rates it,  because  of  its  high  estimate  of  man. 

"The  true  Shekinah — is  man,"  says  a  Jew- 
ish text.  This  thought  I  dearly  love,  this  I 
consider  the  highest  wisdom,  for  I  am  con- 
vinced of  this:  that  until  we  learn  to  admire 
man  as  the  most  beautiful  and  marvellous 


12       RUSSIA  AND  THE  JEWS 

phenomenon  on  our  planet,  until  then  we  shall 
not  be  set  free  from  the  abomination  and  lies 
that  saturate  our  lives. 

It  is  with  this  conviction  that  I  have  entered 
the  world,  and  with  this  conviction  I  shall  leave 
it,  and  in  leaving  it  I  will  believe  firmly  that  the 
time  will  come  when  the  world  will  acknowl- 
edge that 

"The  holy  of  holies  is  manl" 

It  is  unbearably  painful  to  see  that  human 
beings  who  have  produced  so  much  that  is 
beautiful,  wise  and  necessary  for  the  world,  live 
among  us  oppressed  by  unfair  laws,  which  in 
all  ways  restrain  their  right  to  life,  work  and 
freedom.  It  is  necessary, — for  it  is  just  and 
useful — to  give  the  Jew  equal  rights  with  the 
Russians;  it  is  imperative  that  we  should  do 
so  not  only  out  of  respect  to  the  people  which 
has  rendered  and  is  constantly  rendering  yeo- 
man service  to  humanity  and  our  own  nation, 
but  also  out  of  self-respect. 

We  must  make  haste  with  this  plain,  human 
reform,  for  the  animosity  against  Jews  is  on 
the  increase  in  our  country,  and  if  we  do  not 
make  an  attempt  to  arrest  the  growth  of  this 


MAXIM  GORKY 13 

blind  hatred,  it  will  prove  pernicious  to  our 
cultural  development.  We  must  bear  in  mind 
that  the  Russian  people  have  hitherto  seen 
very  little  good,  and  therefore,  believe  all  the 
evil  things  that  man-haters  whisper  in  their 
ears.  The  Russian  peasant  does  not  manifest 
any  organic  hatred  for  the  Jew, — on  the  con- 
trary, he  shows  an  exceptional  attraction  for 
Israel's  religious  thought,  fascinating  for  its 
democratic  spirit.  As  far  as  I  can  remember, 
the  religious  sects  of  "judaizers"  exist  only  in 
Russia  and  Hungary.  In  late  years,  the  sects 
of  "  Sabbathists"  and  "  The  New  Israel"  have 
been  developing  rather  rapidly  in  our  coun- 
try. In  spite  of  this,  when  the  Russian  peas-  ( 
ant  hears  of  persecutions  of  Jews,  he  says  with 
the  indifference  of  an  Oriental: 

"No  one  sues  or  beats  an  innocent  man." 
Who  ought  to  know  better  than  the  Russian 
peasant  that  in  "Holy  Russia"  the  innocent 
are  too  often  tried  and  beaten?    But  his  con- 
ception of  right  and  wrong  has  been  confused^ 
from  time  immemorial,  the  sense  of  injustice  is 
undeveloped  in  his  dark  mind,  dimmed  by  cen- 
turies of  Tartardom,  boyardom,  and  the  hor- 
rors of  serfdom. 


14       RUSSIA  AND  THE  JEWS 

The  village  has  a  dislike  for  restless  people, 
even  when  that  restlessness  is  expressed  in  an 
aspiration  for  a  better  life.  We  Russians  are 
intensely  Oriental  by  nature,  we  love  quiet  and  ^ 
immobility,  and  a  rebel,  even  if  he  be  a  Job, 
delights  us  in  but  an  abstract  way.  Lost  in 
the  depth  of  a  winter  six  months  long,  and 
wrapt  in  misty  dreams,  we  love  beautiful 
fairy-tales,  but  the  desire  for  a  beautiful  life 
is  undeveloped  in  us.  And  when  on  the  plane 
of  our  lazy  thought  something  new  and  dis- 
quieting makes  its  appearance, — instead  of  ac- 
cepting and  sympathetically  scanning  it,  we 
hasten  to  drive  it  into  a  dark  corner  of  our 
mind  and  bury  it  there,  lest  it  disturb  us  in  our 
customary  vegetative  existence,  amidst  im- 
potent hopes  and  grey  dreams. 

In  addition  to  the  people,  there  is  also  the 
"populace,"  something  standing  outside  of  so- 
cial classes  and  outside  of  culture,  and  united 
by  the  dark  sense  of  hatred  against  everything 
surpassing  its  understanding  and  defenceless 
against  brute  force.  I  speak  of  the  populace 
which  thus  defines  itself  in  the  words  of  Push- 
kin, our  great  poet,  who  himself  suffered  so 
cruelly  from  the  aristocratic  populace: 


MAXIM  GORKY 15 

"We  are  insidious  and  shameless, 
Ungrateful,  faint-hearted  and  wicked; 
At  heart  we  are  cold,  sterile  eunuchs, 
Traducers,  born  to  slavery." 

It  is  mainly  this  populace  that  is  the  bearer 
of  the  brute  principles,  such  as  anti-Semitism. 

The  Jews  are  defenceless,  and  this  is  es- 
pecially dangerous  for  them  in  the  conditions 
of  Russian  life.  Dostoyevsky,  who  knew  the 
Russian  soul  so  well,  pointed  out  repeatedly 
that  defencelessness  arouses  in  it  a  sensuous 
inclination  to  cruelty  and  crime.  In  late  years 
there  have  appeared  in  Russia  quite  a  few  peo- 
ple who  have  been  taught  to  think  that  they 
are  the  finest  of  the  wheat,  and  that  their  enemy 
is  the  stranger,  above  all — the  Jew.  For  a 
long  time  these  people  were  being  persuaded 
that  all  the  Jews  are  restless  people,  strikers 
and  rioters.  They  were  next  informed  that 
the  Jews  like  to  drink  the  blood  of  thievish 
boys.  In  our  days  they  are  being  taught  that 
the  Polish  Jews  are  spies  and  traitors. 

If  this  preaching  of  hatred  will  not  bring 
bloody  and  shameful  fruits,  it  will  be  only  be- 
cause  it  will  clash  with  our  Russian  indiffer- 
ence to  life  and  will  disappear  in  it;  it  will 


16       RUSSIA  AND  THE  JEWS 

split  against  the  Chinese  wall,  behind  which  our 
still  inexplicable  nation  is  hidden. 

But  if  this  indifference  be  stirred  up  by  the 
efforts  of  the  hatred  preachers, — the  Jews  will 
loom  up  before  the  Russian  nation  as  a  race 
accused  of  all  crimes. 

And  it  is  not  for  the  first  time  that  all  the 
troubles  of  Russian  life  will  be  blamed  on  the 
Jew;  time  and  again  was  he  the  scapegoat 
for  our  sins.  Only  recently  he  paid  with  his 
life  and  goods  for  the  help  he  rendered  us  in 
our  feverish  struggle  for  freedom.  I  think  no 
one  has  forgotten  the  fact  that  our  "eman- 
cipatory movements"  strangely  wound  up  with 
anti- Jewish  riots. 


When  the  many-raced  populace  of  Jeru- 
salem demanded  the  death  of  the  defenceless 
Jew,  Christ,  Pilate,  believing  Christ  innocent, 
washed  his  hands,  but  allowed  him  to  be  put 
to  death. 

How  then  will  honest  Russian  men  and 
women  act  in  Pilate's  place?  Their  judgment 
is  awaited. 


THE  FIRST  STEP 


Leonid  Nikolayevich  Andreyev,  the  author 
of  impressive  tales  and  remarkable  dramas,  is 
well  known  both  in  America  and  in  England. 
Since  the  beginning  of  the  Great  War  he  has 
devoted  himself  to  the  artistic  portrayal  of  the 
war's  effect  on  his  country,  and  also  to  purely 
publicistic  tasks.  He  was  born  in  1871. 


THE  FIRST  STEP 

BY  LEONID  ANDREYEV 

"O  heavens,  if  within  your  blue, 
Old  God  is  still  alive  and  mighty, 
Unseen  by  me  alone,  ye  pray 
For  me  and  for  my  doom  e'er  bleeding! 
My  lips  no  more  are  fraught  with  hymns, 
No  brawn  in  arm,  no  hope  in  heart  .  .  . 
How  long,  how  long,  how  long?" 

— H.  BYALIK. 

IT  is  with  deep  emotion  that  I  have  read  in 
the  Polish  New  Gazette  an  interview 
about  the  Jewish  question  with  a  person- 
age of  high  station  who  seems  to  be  really  well 
informed.  According  to  this  personage,  a 
number  of  measures  are  being  proposed  and 
planned,  which  are  intended  to  lighten  the 
grievous  lot  of  the  Jews  in  Russia:  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  "Pale  of  Settlement"  in  relation  to 
towns  large  and  small,  the  abrogation  of 
the  percentage  "norm"  in  the  secondary  and 

19 


20 THE  FIRST  STEP 

higher  educational  institutions,  the  establish- 
ment of  special  Jewish  schools,  the  reorganisa- 
tion of  Jewish  emigration  on  a  broad  and  ra- 
tional basis.  I  confess  that  I  was  not  prompt 
in  giving  credence  to  these  good  tidings.  And 
those  with  whom  I  shared  the  news,  although 
excited  no  less  than  I,  accepted  them  also  with 
some  degree  of  diffidence,  which  is  only  nat- 
ural in  Russians :  life  indulges  us  so  rarely  and 
so  reluctantly.  But  private  rumours  corrob- 
orate this  news,  and  to  persist  in  one's  disbelief 
would  mean  to  doubt  the  very  meaning  of  the 
present  great  "emancipatory"  war,  which  is 
building  a  glorious  temple  of  renovated  life  on 
the  blood  of  Russians,  Poles,  Jews  and  Lithu- 
anians. And  finally,  I  simply  cannot  help  be- 
lieving, for  my  soul  is  weary  with  waiting  and 
repeating  together  with  the  great  Jewish  poet: 
"How  long,  how  long,  how  long?" 

An  aged  journalist,  who,  it  seems,  has  lost 
all  fervour  and  faith,  has  recently  laughed  in 
his  sleeve  at  the  word  "miracle,"  which  nowa- 
days comes  so  often  to  our  lips:  according  to 
him,  miracles,  generally  speaking,  do  not  exist. 
It  is  my  opinion  also  that  there  are  no  miracles, 
if  we  understand  by  a  miracle  an  arbitrary 


I 
LEONID  ANDREYEV  21 

violation  of  the  natural,  logical,  inevitable 
order  of  things.  But  to  him  who  contemplates 
life  proper,  not  the  table  of  multiplication, — 
logic  itself  appears  as  the  greatest  of  all  mira- 
cles. Oh,  if  logic  would  really  reign  supreme 
in  life;  oh,  if  in  our  cursed  human  existence, 
where  there  are  so  many  aimless  and  unneces- 
sary sorrows  and  tears  and  wild  outrages,  the 
simplest  "two  and  two  is  four"  would  not 
be  the  rarest  of  miracles,  equal  to  the  tran- 
substantiation  of  water  into  precious  wine. 
Would  millions  of  individually  innocent  hu- 
man beings  perish  in  this  most  terrible  of  wars, 
if  instead  of  a  dark  and  terrible  alogism  a  clear 
and  lucid  syllogism  lay  at  the  basis  of  our  in- 
tricate and  enigmatical  existence?  It  is  logic 
that  is  the  true  miracle,  and  "two  and  two  is 
four"  is  that  extraordinary  happiness,  which 
falls  so  seldom  to  our  lot! 

And  just  as  I  rejoiced  as  at  miracles,  at 
Russia's  achievement  of  temperance,  and  Po- 
land's rebirth  in  the  same  way,  I  now  marvel 
at  the  coming  solution  of  the  "Jewish  ques- 
tion," the  immemorial  and  darkest  of  alogisms. 
There  is  something  festive  in  it;  it  stirs  up  in 
me  a  feeling  of  serene  and  immense  joy,  bor- 


22 THE  FIRST  STEP 

dering  on  religious  exaltation.  .  .  .  And  the 
fact  that  for  me,  as  well  as  for  many  other 
Russian  writers,  all  this  was  never  even  a  prob- 
lem, does  not  by  any  means  diminish  the  ex- 
traordinary character  of  what  is  going  to  hap- 
pen; for  a  plain  brotherly  kiss  is  almost  a 
miracle  and  can  move  one  to  tears  at  the  time 
when  the  rule  of  life  and  its  highest  wisdom  is 
a  fierce  war  of  brother  against  brother. 

And  how  can  I  help  feeling  this  extraor- 
dinary import,  I,  a  Russian  intellectual,  if,  to- 
gether with  the  solution  of  the  "question"  my 
soul,  too,  is  suddenly  set  free.  It  is  delivered 
from  all  the  habitual  and  harrowing  experi- 
ences that,  constant  companions  of  my  days 
and  nights  as  they  have  been,  have  acquired  all 
the  peculiarities  of  those  chronic  and  incurable 
ailments,  to  which  the  grave  alone  can  bring 
release  For,  if  to  the  Jews  themselves  the 
"Pale,"  the  "norm,"  etc.,  were  a  fatal  and  im- 
pregnable fact,  which  deformed  their  entire  life, 
they  were  also  for  me,  a  Russian,  something 
in  the  nature  of  a  hump  on  my  back,  a  sta- 
tionary and  ugly  growth,  arising  no  one  knows 
when  or  under  what  circumstances.  Wher- 
ever I  went  and  whatever  I  did,  the  hump  was 


LEONID  ANDREYEV  23 

with  me;  at  night  it  disturbed  my  sleep,  and 
in  my  waking  hours,  when  I  was  among  peo- 
ple, it  filled  me  with  feelings  of  confusion  and 
shame. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  demonstrate  the 
soundness  and  justice  of  the  proposed  meas- 
ures and  to  force  the  door  which  to  me  was 
always  open,  but  I  am  going  to  take  the  liberty 
of  adding  a  few  more  words  about  my  hump. 
When  did  the  "Jewish  question"  leap  on  my 
back? — I  do  not  know.  I  was  born  with  it 
and  under  it.  From  the  very  moment  I  as- 
sumed a  conscious  attitude  towards  life  until 
this  very  day  I  have  lived  in  its  noisome  at- 
mosphere, breathed  in  the  poisoned  air  which 
surrounds  all  these  "problems,"  all  these  dark, 
harrowing  alogisms,  unbearable  to  the  intel- 
lect. 

Who  needs  it?  Whom  does  it  benefit?  If 
all  this  exists  and  is  supported,  if  there  are 
people  who  assert  it  fiercely  and  firmly,  there 
must  be  some  definite  sense  in  it ;  evidently, 
the  Pale,  the  educational  norm,  and  the  rest 
increase  mankind's  sum  of  joy,  exalt  life, 
broaden  the  limits  of  human  possibilities. 
Taking  a  logical  point  of  departure,  that 


24 THE  FIRST  STEP 

is  what  I  thought,  but  this  same  logic  dictated 
to  me  an  absolutely  negative  answer  to  all 
these  questions :  no  one  needs  it,  it  brings  good 
to  no  one:  all  these  discriminations  not  only 
do  not  increase  the  sum  of  joy  on  this  earth, 
but  engender  a  multitude  of  wholly  unneces- 
sary, aimless  sufferings;  some  they  oppress, 
and  others  they  badly  corrupt.  And  yet  I,  a 
Russian  intellectual,  a  happy  representative 
of  the  sovereign  race,  although  fully  conscious 
and  convinced  that  the  "Jewish  question"  is 
no  question  at  all, — I  felt  powerless  and 
doomed  to  the  most  sterile  tribulation  of  spirit. 
For,  all  the  clear-cut  arguments  of  my  intel- 
lect, the  most  fervent  tirades  and  speeches,  the 
sincerest  tears  of  compassion  and  outcries  of 
indignation  unfailingly  broke  against  a  dull, 
unresponsive  wall.  But  all  powerlessness,  if 
it  is  unable  to  prevent  a  crime,  becomes  com- 
plicity; and  this  was  the  result:  personally 
guiltless  of  any  offence  against  my  brother,  I 
have  become  in  the  eyes  of  all  those  uncon- 
cerned and  those  of  my  brother  himself,  a 
Cain. 

The  first  consequence  of  my  fatal  power- 
lessness was  that  the  Jew  did  not  trust  me, 


LEONID  ANDREYEV  25 

which  meant  that  I  lost  my  self-confidence. 
Living  together  with  the  Jews  as  my  co- 
citizens,  being  in  constant  personal  and  busi- 
ness relations  with  them,  in  the  field  of  con- 
sorted social  work,  I  came  face  to  face  with 
the  Jewish  "problem"  every  single  day, — and 
every  single  day  of  my  life  I  felt  with  intoler- 
able keenness  all  the  falsehood  and  wretched 
ambiguity  of  my  situation,  that  of  an  oppressor 
against  one's  will.  In  the  doctor's  office,  at  my 
desk,  in  the  editorial  room,  in  the  street,  finally 
in  jail,  where  together  with  the  Jew  I  fulfilled 
the  all-Russian  prison  duty — everywhere  I  re- 
mained the  privileged  "Russian,"  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  sovereign  race,  the  baron, — 
without  the  baronial  blazon.  And  with  hor- 
ror I  noticed  that  even  the  eyes  of  a  Jew- 
friend  were  dimmed  with  strange  shadows 
.  .  .  that  terrible  images  surged  behind  my 
friendly  Russian  shoulders  and  mingled  wholly 
unsuitable  noises  and  voices  with  my  sincere 
plea  for  "world  citizenship."  .  .  .  And  yet  he 
knew  me  well,  he  knew  my  attitude  toward  the 
Jews, — how  about  those  who  know  only  that 
I  am  a  "Russian"? 

I  remember  having  spent  one  night  in  talk- 


26 THE  FIRST  STEP 

ing  with  a  very  gifted  writer,  a  Jew,  who  was 
my  casual  and  most  welcome  guest.  I  was 
trying  to  convince  him  that  he,  a  great  master 
of  the  word,  ought  to  write,  but  he  repeated 
obstinately  that  although  he  loves  the  Russian 
language  with  all  his  artist's  heart,  he  cannot 
write  in  it,  in  the  language  which  has  the  word 
zhid.1  Of  course,  logic  was  on  my  side,  but 
on  his  side  there  was  some  dark  truth — truth 
is  not  always  lucid — and  I  felt,  that  my  ardent 
arguments  began,  little  by  little,  to  sound  like 
false  and  cheap  babbling.  So  that  I  have  not 
succeeded  in  convincing  him,  and  when  we 
parted  I  had  not  the  courage  to  kiss  him :  how 
many  unexpected  meanings  could  be  disclosed 
in  this  plain,  everyday  token  of  friendship  and 
affection? 

Things  are  altogether  bad  when  even  a  kiss 
becomes  suspicious  and  can  be  susceptible  of 
"interpretation,"  as  a  complicated  act  of  intri- 
cate and  enigmatic  relations!  That  is  exactly 
what  happened.  And  how  many  odd  and 
nightmare-like  misunderstandings  were  engen- 
dered by  the  poisonous  mist  in  which  we  all 
wandered,  both  friends  and  foes,  and  in  which 

i  This  is  an  insulting  synonym  for  "Jew." — Translator's  Note. 


LEONID  ANDREYEV  27 

the  outlines  of  the  plainest  objects  and  feel- 
ings assumed  the  dismal  grotesqueness  of 
phantoms.  I  cannot  help  recalling  here  the 
case  of  E.  A.  Chirikov,  which  at  the  time  ex- 
cited much  comment:  the  noble  and  fervent 
champion  of  the  persecuted  race,  the  author 
of  the  drama  "Jews,"  which  has  more  than  any 
other  Russian  drama  contributed  to  the  dis- 
persion of  the  evil  prejudice, — this  man  was 
suddenly,  in  a  most  absurd  manner,  without  a 
shadow  of  foundation,  insulted  by  the  accusa- 
tion of  anti-Semitism;  and — to  think  of  it! — it 
was  necessary  to  furnish  proofs  that  the  ac- 
cusation was  false.  What  a  painful,  what  a 
wholly  disgraceful  absurdity! 

"Who  needs  all  this?  Who  does  not  know 
it?"  wearily  thought  every  one  of  us,  again  and 
again  realising  the  harrowing  necessity  of  con- 
vincing some  unbeliever,  that  two  and  two  is 
four  .  .  .  nothing  but  four! 

And  abroad?  "What  an  injustice!" — 
thought  I,  when  the  cultured  West,  having 
separated  me  from  Tolstoy,  as  if  I  had  stolen 
him,  handed  me  on  the  spot,  a  bill  for  the 
"excesses"  known  the  world  over,  at  the  same 
time  frowning  unambiguously  upon  my  eter- 


28 THE  FIRST  STEP 

nal  hump.  The  West  refused  to  consider  that 
I,  too,  am  against  this.  I  was  considered  a 
Russian,  and  the  question  was  put  this  way: 
"Tell  me,  why  in  your  country,  in  Rus- 
sia? .  .  ." 

It  is  ridiculous  and  utterly  odd  to  think 
that  our  far-famed  "barbarism"  of  which  our 
enemies  accuse  us  and  which  puts  our  friends 
out  of  countenance,  is  based  wholly  and  exclu- 
sively on  our  Jewish  question  and  its  bloody 
excesses.  Take  away  from  Russia  these  ex- 
cesses, leave,  if  you  wish,  the  anti-Semitism,  but 
in  that  externally  decorous  form  in  which  it 
still  exists  in  the  backward  portions  of  Eu- 
rope,— and  we  shall  become  at  once  decent 
Europeans,  and  not  Asiatics  and  barbarians, 
whose  proper  place  is  beyond  the  Ural.  This 
is  a  fact  the  obviousness  of  which  every  new 
day  of  the  present  war  makes  more  strikingly 
evident. 

Of  course  culturally  we  are  far  behind  the 
world,  our  economic  life  is  undeveloped,  our 
civic  life  is  at  a  low  level,  and  all  the  aspects 
of  our  life  show  clearly  that  we  have  not  as 
yet  broken  the  shell  of  the  egg.  But  we  are 
young,  we  are  only  beginning,  and  for  a  peo- 


LEONID  ANDREYEV  29 

pie  who  abolished  serfdom  only  half  a  century 
ago,  we  have  done  quite  a  good  deal, — so  that, 
at  the  worst,  lack  of  culture  is  the  only  re- 
proach which  a  European  with  a  sense  of  jus- 
tice will  fling  at  us.  But  it  is  enough  to  put 
side  by  side  the  words  "Russian"  and  "Jew," 
— and  I  become  at  once  a  barbarian,  a  dark 
and  terrible  being,  who  chills  and  darkens 
resplendent  Europe.  At  once  in  America 
people  begin  to  hate  me,  in  England  and 
France  to  despise  me;  with  the  swiftness 
of  theatrical  transformations  Tolstoy's  com- 
patriot turns  into  the  brother  of  those  who 
drive  nails  into  their  neighbours'  heads, — I  be- 
come a  barbarian.  And  even  the  German  anti- 
Semite,  a  stupid  and  dull  creature,  looks  down 
at  me  and  warns  England:  "See  with  whom 
you  are  friends?  Are  they  not  the  same  peo- 
ple who  .  .  .  ?" 

"To  whose  interest  is  it  that  Europe  should 
despise  me,  hate  and  fear  me?"  I  mused,  per- 
plexed, feeling  that  in  the  light  of  the  Eu- 
ropean sun  my  cursed  hump  assumes  immense 
proportions  and  like  a  screen  shuts  off  the 
light  which  comes  from  the  East,  and  in  which 
the  aged  and  weary  West  is  quite  inclined  to 


30 THE  FIRST  STEP 

believe.  To  whom  is  it  necessary  for  me  to 
ramble  among  the  cultured  nations  like  a  leper, 
to  conceal  my  race  and  obtain  the  ironical  bow 
so  essential  to  my  unacknowledged  dignity,  by 
means  of  exorbitant  "tips"  flung  right  and 
left?  A  barbarian,  a  barbarian!  .  .  . 

The  war  has  opened  our  eyes  to  many 
things,  and  therein  lies  for  us  Russians  the  sad 
advantages  of  it.  And  now  when  Germany 
brands  France  and  England  for  the  union 
with  "the  Russian  barbarians  who  .  .  .,"  when 
the  allies,  while  relying  on  our  elemental  force, 
tremble  with  doubts  and  fear  behind  the  screen 
of  their  noisy  sympathies, — I  begin  to  under- 
stand in  whose  interests  it  was,  who  needed  it, 
that  in  the  legion  of  European  states  we 
should  remain  all  alone  with  our  barbarism. 
Whatever  is  a  misfortune  for  us  is  favourable 
for  Germany,  with  her  "well-tried"  friendship 
for  us,  to  which  Wilhelm  referred  so  loudly 
from  the  balcony  of  his  palace.  As  bar- 
barians we  are  only  an  excellent  and  indis- 
pensable market  for  the  Germans'  merchan- 
dise, a  two-hundred-million  flock  of  sheep 
ready  for  the  shears.  As  a  cultured  nation  we 
are  a  power  dangerous  to  the  Teuton's  dream 


LEONID  ANDREYEV  31 

of  world  dominion.  And  the  Jewish  ques- 
tion, with  its  excesses  and  nails  driven  into 
heads,  is  that  trump  which  our  honest  German 
neighbour  has  always  kept  hidden  in  his  cuff 
and  which  he  throws  out  on  the  green  table  at 
the  necessary  moment.  And  he  was  right 
from  his  standpoint.  But  why  had  we  to 
drink  off  the  bitter  cup?  Losing  our  self- 
respect,  having  no  faith  in  our  power,  growing 
corrupted  by  an  unnatural  existence,  cutting 
down  by  means  of  the  celebrated  "norm"  the 
number  of  our  educated  and  cultured  men — a 
devilish  joke! — our  entire  nation  was  dili- 
gently performing  the  "Fools'  Dance,"  which, 
under  the  name  of  a  drama  from  Russian  life, 
has  recently  met  with  such  a  success  in  the 
Berlin  playhouses.  It  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  the  ardent  Polish  anti-Semitism,  which 
frightens  us  so  much  and  which  seriously  hin- 
ders the  upbuilding  of  a  new  life,  as  well  as  the 
cold  Finnish  anti-Semitism,  the  power  of  which 
is  still  unknown  to  us, — that  these  two  phe- 
nomena are  nothing  but  the  logical  develop- 
ment of  the  fundamental  absurdity,  its  natural 
and  poisonous  fruits.  But  the  time  has  not 
come  yet  to  speak  about  that. 


32 THE  FIRST  STEP 

May  I  be  pardoned  that  in  an  hour  so  mo- 
mentous for  the  Jews  I  persist  in  speaking  not 
of  them  and  their  sufferings,  but  of  ourselves. 
I  repeat,  the  Jewish  question  was  never  a 
question  for  me,  and  in  order  to  justify  the 
proposed  measures  I  need  not  allege  the  hero- 
ism shown  by  the  Jews  in  defending  Russia, 
their  love  for  Russia,  tragic  in  its  faithfulness. 
As  for  demonstrating  again  and  again  that  a 
Jew,  too,  is  a  human  being,  to  do  so  would 
mean  not  only  to  bow  too  low  to  absurdity, 
but  also  to  insult  those  whom  I  respect  and 
love.  And  if  I  persist  in  speaking  of  our- 
selves and  our  suffering,  it  is  not  for  personal 
egoism,  nor  even  class  egoism,  but  the  pardon- 
able egoism  of  a  nation,  which  has  been  too 
long  playing  a  miserable  part  on  Europe's 
stage  and  in  its  own  conscience,  and  which  now 
repudiates  the  suffering  of  yesterday  and,  at 
the  dawn  of  new  life,  seeks  the  possibility — oh, 
only  the  possibility! — of  respecting  itself. 

Yes,  we  are  still  barbarians,  the  Poles  still 
mistrust  us,  we  are  a  dark  terror  for  Europe, 
a  baffling  menace  to  her  civilisation,  but  we 
do  not  want  to  be  that  any  more,  we  long  for 
purity  and  reason,  our  wretched  rags  burden 


LEONID  ANDREYEV  33 

us  beyond  all  measure.  The  Jews'  tragic  love 
for  Russia  finds  a  counterpart  in  our  love  for 
Europe,  as  tragical  in  its  faithfulness  and 
completeness.  Are  we  not  ourselves  the  Jews 
of  Europe,  and  is  not  our  frontier — the  same 
"Pale  of  Settlement" — something  in  the  na- 
ture of  a  Russian  Ghetto?  And  try  as  our 
Pushkin  and  Dostoyevsky  and  your  Byalik 
may  to  prove  that  we,  too,  are  human  beings, 
people  do  not  believe  us,  as  they  do  not  believe 
you:  here  is  that  equality  whence  we  all  can 
derive  a  bitter  consolation;  here  is  the  pun- 
ishment by  means  of  which  impartial  life  takes 
revenge  on  the  Russians  for  the  Jews'  suffer- 
ings. 

The  thirst  for  self-respect — that  is  the  fun- 
damental feeling  which  now,  in  the  days  of 
the  most  terrible  war,  has  seized  all  Russian 
society,  which  has  exalted  the  people  to  the 
heights  of  heroism,  and  which  makes  us  fear 
all  that  reminds  us  of  our  sad  past.  That  is 
why  persecution  of  Germans  in  our  own  coun- 
try is  so  unbearable  to  us ;  we  want  no  persecu- 
tion; that  is  why  we  hate  all  that,  like  the 
belching  of  yesterday's  drinking,  distorts  our 
disinterested  aims  and  intentions:  better  yield 


34 THE  FIRST  STEP 

than  take  too  much  of  what  belongs  to  other 
people — that  is  nowadays  the  motto  of  the  ma- 
jority. Could  the  country  become  sober  if 
not  for  this  feeling  which  one  has  when  about 
to  receive  holy  communion?  Although  proud 
at  the  victories  of  our  arms,  we  scrupulously 
hide  this  pride,  we  treasure  it  in  our  hearts  as 
our  most  precious  possession,  and  we  hate  all 
swaggering  and  self -adulation.  Not  with  the 
haughtiness  of  a  righteous  pharisee  do  we  ap- 
proach the  altar,  but  with  a  prayer  of  peni- 
tence: "like  a  murderer  I  profess  Thee." 

We  must  all  understand  that  the  end  of 
Jewish  sufferings  is  the  beginning  of  our  self- 
respect,  without  which  Russia  cannot  exist. 
The  black  days  of  war  will  pass,  and  the  "Ger- 
man barbarians"  of  to-day  will  again  become 
cultured  Germans,  to  whose  voice  the  world 
will  once  more  hearken  with  deference.  And 
we  must  never  again  allow  this  or  any  other 
voice  to  utter  aloud:  "The  Russian  bar- 
barians." 


MR.  JACKSON'S  OPINION  ON 
THE  JEWISH  QUESTION 


Vladimir  Galaktionovich  Korolenko  is  to- 
day universally  recognized  in  Russia  as  the 
most  worthy  guardian  of  the  best  traditions  of 
Russian  letters.  He  has  done  yeoman  service 
to  his  country  both  as  an  author  of  humani- 
tarian tales  and  as  the  mouth-piece  of  Russia's 
public  conscience.  After  the  government 
some  time  ago  suppressed  the  magazine  "Rus- 
sian Wealth"  which  Korolenko  had  edited,  he 
retired  to  the  city  of  Poltava,  in  the  South,  and 
in  late  years  his  appearance  in  print  has  been 
a  rare  event.  He  was  born  in  1853. 


MR.  JACKSON'S  OPINION  ON  THE 
JEWISH  QUESTION 

BY  VLADIMIR  KOROLENKO 

ONE  of  the  most  intelligent  though  not 
one  of  the  most  profound  opinions 
about  the  Jewish  question  I  happened 
to  hear  from  a  chance  fellow-traveller  on  the 
Atlantic  Ocean.     And  although  it  was  quite 
some  time  ago,  and  the  man  who  expressed  it 
was  in  no  way  remarkable,  nevertheless  this 
opinion  is  recalled  to  me  on  various  occasions 
— very  frequently  in  these  days. 

It  was  in  1904.  Together  with  a  fellow 
countryman,  also  a  man  of  letters,  I  was 
travelling  aboard  a  steamer  of  the  Anglo- 
American  Company,  "Cunard."  Our  cabin 
was  small  and  narrow.  It  was  lighted  by  the 
dull  light  of  an  electric  bull's-eye  in  the  ceiling 
which  served  as  a  deck.  There  were  three 
berths  and  a  wash  basin.  My  friend  and  I  oc- 
cupied two  of  the  berths.  On  the  third  there 

37 


38       MR.  JACKSON'S  OPINION 

camped  the  gentleman  about  whom  we  read 
in  the  passenger  list:  "Mr.  Henry  Jackson 
of  Illinois."  This  was  all  we  knew  about  him 
for  the  first  few  days.  He  rose  very  early, 
went  to  bed  late  and  spent  all  day  outside  of 
the  cabin.  As  a  rule,  we  woke  early,  because 
to  the  muffled  and  steady  splash  of  the  ocean 
over  the  sides  of  the  ship  there  was  added  a 
splash  issuing  from  the  basin,  nearby.  By  the 
dim  light  of  the  bull's-eye  I  could  see  from  my 
top  berth  a  tall  figure  in  a  nightshirt  as  long 
as  a  shroud,  with  a  small  bald  spot  on  the  pate. 
Out  of  delicacy  he  did  not  turn  on  the  electric 
lights  and  in  the  semi-darkness  made  his  toilet 
very  quietly,  but  was  not  able  to  forego  the 
pleasure  of  emitting  some  snorts  while  splash- 
ing himself  with  cold  water  from  the  basin. 
Then  he  dived  again  into  his  berth  and  for 
some  time  quietly  and  cautiously  busied  him- 
self there;  then — a  light  squeak  of  the  door, 
and  a  long  figure  glided  out  from  the  cabin. 
We  were  interested  in  the  personality  of  our 
neighbour.  He  was  the  first  American  whom 
fate  had  brought  so  near  to  us.  We  were  un- 
able even  to  distinguish  his  face  and  during 
the  day  tried  to  single  him  out  in  the  inter- 


VLADIMIR  KOROLENKO        39 

national  crowd  of  gentlemen  scurrying  about 
the  deck  of  our  Urania,  lounging  on  the 
deck-chairs,  having  luncheon,  or  dinner  or  sup- 
per, or  lost  in  the  smoke  of  cigars  in  the 
smoking  room.  This  elusiveness  made  the 
personality  of  the  traveller  puzzling  and  in- 
teresting, and  we  bestowed  the  title  of  "Our 
American"  now  on  one,  now  on  another 
of  the  middle-aged  American  gentlemen.  Of 
course,  we  marked  as  candidates  the  more  in- 
teresting and  typical  figures.  The  Urania 
had  been  on  the  ocean  for  quite  some  time  when 
my  friend  at  last  said  to  me:  "I  have  found 
out  which  American  is  ours.  Here  he  comes 
now.  Look!" 

Along  the  railing,  a  lanky  gentleman  and 
a  short  stout  lady  were  coming  toward  us.  I 
felt  a  sense  of  involuntary  disappointment: 
both  he  and  she  were  the  least  interesting  of 
all  the  first-class  passengers  on  the  Urania. 

A  kind  of  half -European,  half -exotic  troupe 
were  on  the  boat.  They  were  going  to  Amer- 
ica for  a  tour.  The  central  figures  in  the 
group  were  two  beautiful  Creoles  who  had  al- 
ready succeeded  in  gaining  a  reputation  in 
Europe.  Around  them  were  grouped  a  few 


40       MR.  JACKSON'S  OPINION 

stars  of  smaller  magnitude,  and  the  whole  con- 
stellation attracted  considerable  attention 
from  the  men  of  the  various  nationalities  rep- 
resented on  board.  Soon  a  few  couples  cir- 
cling the  decks  together  came  into  notice. 
Amongst  them  were  the  lanky  gentleman  and 
the  short,  very  vulgar  lady,  who  looked  like  a 
maid  or  a  duenna.  As  they  passed  in  front 
of  the  other  couples,  one  could  sometimes  notice 
slightly  ironical  glances  and  meaning  smiles. 
But  "our"  American  had  a  most  self-satisfied, 
even  somewhat  victorious  look.  My  compan- 
ion, well-versed  in  English  soon  made  a  few 
acquaintances.  Most  often  I  saw  him  con- 
verse with  "our"  American  in  the  hours  when 
the  latter  was  free  from  his  knightly  duties. 
Pretty  soon  we  gained  an  insight  into  the  main 
facts  of  his  life-history.  We  learned  that  in 
his  youth  he  had  followed  in  turn  a  number  of 
various  callings,  until  one  of  them  brought 
him  success.  He  had  retired  and  was  now  liv- 
ing on  his  large  income,  had  provided  very  well 
for  his  two  sons,  had  lost  his  wife,  and  de- 
cided to  devote  to  pleasure  the  rest  of  his  life 
which  had  begun  amidst  drudgery  and  many 
vicissitudes.  He  spent  his  time  in  travelling 


VLADIMIR  KOROLENKO        41 

from  one  son  to  the  other  and  retiring  now  and 
then  to  his  own  well-furnished  home  in  Chi- 
cago. "When  travelling  you  very  often  have 
very  interesting  adventures,  don't  you?" 
And  he  shot  a  triumphant  and  sly  glance  in 
the  direction  of  his  artistic  lady. 

Having  learned  that  we  were  Russian 
writers,  he  decided  at  once  that  we  were  going 
to  the  Exhibition  in  the  capacity  of  corre- 
spondents. 

"Oh,  yes,  in  my  hard  days  I  ate  bread  baked 
in  this  oven,  too,"  he  said,  with  an  air  of  satis- 
faction. "There  are  many  occupations  which 
are  more  respectable  and  profitable.  .  .  .  But 
one  tries  everything.  I  can  give  you  a  good 
piece  of  advice.  On  the  first  train  which  will 
take  you  into  the  interior  of  the  country,  you 
will  encounter  a  young  man  who  offers  illus- 
trated guide-books  for  sale.  Do  not  grudge 
your  half-dollar,  and  buy  these  guide-books 
as  frequently  as  possible.  You  will  find  in 
them  excellent  descriptions  of  noteworthy 
places,  written  by  real  masters.  You  can 
draw  from  them  quite  liberally.  Even  we, 
Americans,  cannot  know  all  our  guide-books, 
as  for  Russia  .  ,  Heh-heh!  Before  reach- 


42       MR.  JACKSON'S  OPINION 

ing  Chicago  you  will  have  several  thousand 
lines.  .  .  .  Your  readers  will  be  satisfied,  and 
so  will  your  editor  and  you  will  earn  your  pay 
easily  .  .  .  What?  .  .  .  Isn't  that  so?" 

"Much  obliged,  sir!"  answered  my  compan- 
ion with  ironical  civility,  and  added  in  Rus- 
sian: "The  swine!  He  is  cock-sure  that  he 
has  benefited  us  highly  by  his  advice." 

My  companion  had  a  strong  sense  of  humour, 
and  every  day  he  had  some  new  episode,  some 
characteristic  opinion  held  by  the  American  or 
some  story  of  his  past  to  tell  me.  Sometimes 
he  would  take  out  his  note-book  and  make 
believe  he  was  respectfully  taking  notes  on 
some  especially  happy  passages  from  these 
enlightening  conversations.  And  at  the  same 
time  he  would  say  to  me  in  Russian : 

"He  is  deeply  convinced  that  America  is  the 
best  country  in  the  world,  Illinois  is  the  best 
State  in  America,  the  street  he  lives  on  is  the 
best  street  in  his  city,  and  his  house  the  best 
house  on  the  street.  Now  he  is  trying  to  per- 
suade me  that  Chicago  outgrew  New  York 
long  ago  and  is  now  the  first  city  in  the  world. 
Wait  a  minute  .  .  .  there  comes  another 
one.  That  one  is  a  New  Yorker."  He 


VLADIMIR  KOROLENKO        43 

stopped  the  gentleman  who  was  passing  by 
and  proceeded  to  introduce  them  to  each 
other : 

"Mr.  Jackson  of  Illinois,  Mr.  Carson  of 
New  York." 

Then  in  the  naive  tone  of  a  person,  some- 
what perplexed,  he  asked: 

"You  told  me  that  New  York  is  the  first  city 
in  the  world.  And  here  is  Mr.  Jackson  who 
asserts  that  for  the  last  ten  years  Chicago  has 
outstripped  New  York  in  population.  Ac- 
cording to  him  Chicago  has  so  many  million 
inhabitants." 

My  companion  leaned  back  slightly  in  his 
arm-chair  and  looked  with  obvious  curiosity  at 
the  two  Americans. 

"Presently  we  shall  have  a  cock-fight,"  he 
said  to  me  in  Russian,  and  a  mocking  twitch 
appeared  beneath  his  moustache. 

Mr.  Carson  straightened  up.  His  eye- 
brows lifted  impatiently  but  immediately  his 
face  took  on  an  expression  of  polite  calm,  and 
slightly  tipping  his  hat,  he  said:  "It  is  very 
possible  .  .  .  the  gentleman  evidently  in- 
cludes the  population  of  the  cemeteries  of 
Chicago." 


44       MR.  JACKSON'S  OPINION 

He  bowed  and  resumed  his  walking,  leaving 
Mr.  Jackson  aghast  with  mouth  wide-open, 
speechless,  for  he  had  not  time  to  protest. 
Then  he  got  up  quickly  and  walked  along  the 
deck.  .  .  .  My  companion  followed  him  with 
his  smiling  eyes.  .  .  . 

"Perfect  parrots,"  he  said.  "Petty  patri- 
otism, in  its  most  naive  form.  .  .  .  Dickens 
long  ago  noticed  that  trait  of  American 
character  and  so  it  goes  on."  My  sly  country- 
man skilfully  interviewed  his  victim,  disclos- 
ing step  by  step  the  ludicrous  traits  of  a 
Yankee.  There  were  many  weak  sides.  Mr. 
Jackson,  in  whom  we  were  mainly  interested, 
proved  to  be  a  mediocre  person  in  all  respects, 
with  a  naively  middle-class  outlook  on  life,  and 
we,  the  two  Russian  observers,  revelled  in  that 
delightful  malice  which  is  so  characteristic  of 
Russians  abroad.  So  that  is  what  they  are, 
the  far-famed  children  of  the  translantic 
republic! 

Sometime  later,  I  again  found  my  compan- 
ion engaged  in  conversation  with  Mr.  Jackson. 
The  ocean  was  somewhat  rough.  The  ladies 
did  not  come  out  on  deck;  Mr.  Jackson  was, 
therefore,  free  and  evidently  in  high  spirits. 


VLADIMIR  KOROLENKO        45 

He  spoke  with  great  animation.  My  com- 
panion had  his  note-book  in  his  hands  and 
there  was  a  slyly  respectful  smile  on  his  face. 

"We  are  discussing  the  Jewish  question,"  he 
said  in  Russian.  "Mr.  Carson,  a  quarter  of 
an  hour  ago,  praised  the  Jews,  and  ever  since 
'our  man'  cannot  calm  down.  He  enlightens 
me  with  arguments  which  sound  as  if  they 
were  just  taken  from  our  yellow  newspapers. 
Please,  go  on,  sir,"  he  respectfully  addressed 
Mr.  Jackson.  "Everything  you  say  is  so  new 
and  interesting.  .  .  ." 

Mr.  Jackson,  who  was  flattered  by  the  re- 
spectful attention  of  the  naive  Russian,  con- 
tinued his  sermon.  It  was  before  the  days  of 
the  Beyliss  trial.  Nevertheless,  except  for  the 
"ritual"  murder,  all  the  rest  of  the  jargon  of 
our  anti-Semitic  papers  was  there,  and  the 
Jewish  character  was  painted  the  most  fright- 
ful black. 

On  the  other  end  of  the  deck  resounded  the 
shrill  sound  of  the  gong,  a  signal  for  lunch. 

"Thank  you,  sir,"  said  my  companion.  "It 
is  with  great  pleasure  that  I  have  listened  to 
your  views  on  the  subject,  and  I  am  certain 
that  all  this  will  be  found  extremely  novel  in 


46       MR.  JACKSON'S  OPINION 

our  country.  ...  I  have  a  few  more  minutes 
to  ask  you  one  last  question.  .  .  ." 

"What  else  do  you  wish  to  know?"  said  Mr. 
Jackson. 

"I  wonder,"  answered  my  friend,  "what 
conclusions  are  to  be  drawn  from  this  enlight- 
ening conversation.  You  are  undoubtedly 
against  equal  rights  for  the  Jews.  You  would 
shut  the  doors  of  the  country  for  the  Jews, 
wouldn't  you?  And  you  would  limit  the 
rights  of  those  who  already  live  there,  by 
establishing,  let  us  say,  something  in  the 
nature  of  a  special  zone  outside  of  which  they 
would  not  be  allowed  to  settle?" 

Even  as  my  friend  was  saying  this  the 
American's  eyebrows  went  up,  forming  a 
sharp  angle,  and  he  looked  at  the  speaker  with 
such  an  air  of  pity  that  the  latter  was  some- 
what put  out  of  countenance. 

"How  in  the  world  have  you  reached  such  a 
conclusion?"  asked  Jackson  coldly,  and  some- 
what severely. 

"But  .  .  .  you  dislike  the  Jews  heart- 
ily. .  .  ." 

The  clanging  of  the  gong  was  reaching  our 


VLADIMIR  KOROLENKO        47 

corner.  Mr.  Jackson  rose  and  buttoning  his 
coat,  he  said : 

"It  does  not  follow.  You  have  made  a  bad 
syllogism:  the  conclusion  does  not  follow  from 
the  premises." 

"But,  sir.  .  .  ." 

"It  is  true  that  I  dislike  those  people,  but  it 
doesn't  follow  that  I  want  their  rights  re- 
stricted. .  .  ." 

And  after  a  moment  of  deliberation,  as 
though  seeking  for  the  clearest  form  of  ex- 
planation, he  went  on. 

"Here  we  are  being  called  for  dinner  ...  I 
must  tell  you,  sir,  that  I  cannot  tolerate  green 
peas.  That  is  my  personal  taste.  But  it  does 
not  follow  by  any  means,  gentlemen,  that  I 
have  the  right  to  demand  that  green  peas 
should  not  be  served.  .  .  .  Probably,  others 
like  the  dish.  .  .  ." 

And  rising  to  his  full  height,  he  added: 

"As  for  the  rest  of  your  words  ...  as  an 
American,  I  would  feel  insulted,  if  there  were 
in  my  country  citizens  deprived  of  equal 
rights.  .  .  .  That  a  Kentuckian,  for  instance, 
should  not  have  the  right  to  breathe  freely  the 


48       MR.  JACKSON'S  OPINION 

air  of  Illinois.  .  .  .  My  goodness.  .  .  .  The 
idea!" 

And  he  started  out,  moving  along  the  rail- 
ing, straight  and  gaunt,  and,  there  was  some- 
thing peculiar  in  his  entire  figure.  He  seemed 
to  feel  himself  deeply  insulted.  At  the  door 
of  the  smoking-room,  he  met  Mr.  Carson  of 
New  York,  his  recent  antagonist,  and  amiably 
taking  his  arm,  he  started  to  tell  him  some- 
thing in  great  excitement.  Judging  by  the 
way  Mr.  Carson  turned  to  look  at  us,  it  was 
evident  that  they  were  discussing  us  Russians, 
the  gentlemen  who  draw  false  conclusions 
from  premises. 

We  exchanged  glances.  Half  a  minute 
passed  in  perplexed  silence.  Then  we  both 
laughed  at  once.  .  .  . 

"Rira  bien  qui  rira  le  dernier.  We  must 
confess  that  this  time  it  is  'our'  rather  bad 
American  who  laughs  last,"  said  my  sarcastic 
friend.  "And  did  you  notice  the  expression 
on  his  face  at  that  moment?" 

"Yes,  it  looked  positively  intelligent.  .  .  . 
Probably,  because  the  experience  and  wisdom 
of  a  great  nation,  which  has  already  firmly 
established  axioms,  were  speaking  at  that 


VLADIMIR  KOROLENKO        49 

moment  through  the  mouth  of  our  Ameri- 
can. .  .  ." 

"And  the  negroes?"  said  my  friend  hesi- 
tatingly and  thoughtfully. 

"Well,  the  negroes  are  'the  black  peas' 
which  Americans  detest.  But  that  is  a  matter 
of  social  custom;  the  law,  however,  does  not 
distinguish  them  from  other  citizens.  ...  To 
love,  not  to  love  .  .  .  that  is  elusive  and 
capricious,  but  justice  is  obligatory,  like  an 
axiom.  ..." 

Entering  the  dining-room,  I  felt  somewhat 
uneasy.  ...  It  seemed  to  me  that  all  the 
Americans  would  turn  and  eye  us,  the  repre- 
sentatives of  a  nation  which  has  not  as  yet 
learned  the  axioms  of  law,  and  which  draws 
childishly  false  conclusions  from  premi- 
ses. •  •  • 

But  I  was  mistaken.  There  was  in  the 
dining-room  the  usual  rustling,  clatter  of 
plates,  forks  and  knives,  tinkling  of  glasses, 
and  whispered  conversation.  "Our"  Ameri- 
can was  sitting  at  the  side  of  his  odd  Dulcinea, 
and  he  again  looked  like  a  self-satisfied  cox- 
comb. But,  it  seemed  to  me  that  into  the 
everyday  mood  of  the  vessel's  table-d'hote, 


50       MR.  JACKSON'S  OPINION 

there  entered  something  elusive  and  signifi- 
cant, which  could  change  the  appearance  of 
this  motley  crowd  just  as  our  American's  face 
had  changed  at  the  end  of  our  conversation. 

And,  in  fact,  a  few  weeks  later,  I  happened 
to  be  present  at  one  of  those  tempestuous 
manifestations  of  public  opinion  which  at 
times  break  out  like  storms  on  the  surface  of 
the  ocean.  There  is  much  that  is  ridiculous 
in  the  every-day  tone  of  American  news- 
papers, in  their  thirst  for  sensations  and 
reclame,  in  their  petty  interviews.  But  here 
everything  was  suddenly  swept  aside,  and  the 
dominant  tone  of  the  American  press  became 
deep  and  significant.  Now  and  then  the 
voices  of  past  generations, — the  men  who  had 
been  the  builders  of  freedom  and  law  in  their 
country,  the  voices  of  Lincolns,  Harrisons, 
and  Da  vises  pierced  the  bustle  of  every-day 
life  and  were  heard  in  editorials,  articles,  in  the 
speeches  delivered  at  meetings. 

The  occasion  for  all  this  was  again  the 
Jewish  question,  and  the  ignorance  of  axioms 
shown  by  a  nation  of  the  old  continent.  And 
it  occurred  to  me  that  probably  somewhere  in 
Chicago,  Mr.  Jackson,  "who  dislikes  green 


VLADIMIR  KOROLENKO        51 

peas,"  was  delivering,  or  at  least  listening  to, 
a  speech  about  the  axioms  of  human  law,  and 
was  voting  in  favor  of  a  corresponding 
resolution. 

For  he  firmly  believes  that  love  is  capricious. 
Like  mercy,  it  bloweth,  whither  it  listeth.  .  .  . 
But  justice,  justice  is  obligatory.  .  .  . 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION  IN 
RUSSIA 


Professor  Paul  Nikolayevich  Milyukov,  the 
central  figure  in  the  present  Russian  revolu- 
tion, was  born  in  1859.  Before  the  upheaval 
in  1905  he  was  known  as  a  distinguished  his- 
torian. In  1903  and  1904  he  lectured  on  Rus- 
sia at  Harvard  and  at  the  University  of  Chi- 
cago, and  in  1908  he  spoke  on  the  situation  in 
Russia  before  the  Civic  Forum  in  Carnegie 
Hall.  Ever  since  the  revolutionary  days  of 
1905-6,  Professor  Milyukov  has  been  playing 
a  most  conspicuous  part  in  the  Russian  emanci- 
patory movement,  as  the  leader  of  the  Constitu- 
tional party,  as  a  Duma  deputy  and  the  editor 
of  the  influential  radical  newspaper  Ryech. 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION  IN 
RUSSIA 

BY  P.  MILYUKOV 

THE  Jewish  question  in  Russia  presents 
altogether  peculiar  aspects.  This  is 
not  only  because  there  are  in  the 
Empire  six  million  Jews,  i.e.,  more  than  in  any 
other  State  in  the  world,  and  because  in  the 
provinces  annexed  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
and  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  centuries, 
they  form  as  much  as  11  per  cent,  of  the  popu- 
lation— but  also  for  the  reason  that  the  legal 
status  of  the  Russian  Jews  completely  differs 
from  that  of  other  non-Russian  nationalities 
which  go  to  make  the  Empire.  These  nation- 
alities endeavour  to  obtain  the  many  rights  of 
which  they  are  deprived.  The  most  important 
of  these  rights  is  national  autonomy,  i.e.,  the 
right  of  a  collective  unit  to  preserve  and 
develop  its  national  individuality.  In  this 

55 


56  IN  RUSSIA 


manner  they  desire  to  protect  themselves  from 
the  danger  of  assimilation,  from  the  possibility 
of  their  fusion  with  the  dominant  nationality. 
Of  course  the  Jews,  too,  have  been  striving, 
especially  in  late  years,  to  realise  national 
autonomy  and  thus  safeguard  the  rights  and 
aspirations  of  their  collective  unit.  But  they 
lack  still  other  rights.  They  have  still  to  be 
granted  those  rights  which  to  a  considerable 
degree  other  Russian  subjects,  not  of  Russian 
birth,  enjoy.  The  law  does  not  protect  the 
elementary  civil  rights  of  the  Jews  as  mem- 
bers of  our  common  Russian  commonwealth. 
Consequently,  that  which  the  Jews  strive  for  is 
far  more  elementary,  far  more  primitive  and 
simple,  than  the  objective  of  other  non- 
Russian  nationalities  which  inhabit  Russia. 

Anti-Semitism  is  not  peculiar  to  Russia;  it  is 
to  be  found  in  other  countries  as  well.  But 
there  it  exists  as  an  emotion  and  a  state  of 
mind,  not  as  a  system  of  legislative  definitions. 
The  time  has  long  since  passed  when  the  legis- 
latures of  the  world  failed  to  guarantee  the 
elementary  civil  rights  of  the  Jews.  Rou- 
mania  alone  constitutes  a  peculiar  exception. 
But,  as  a  rule,  in  all  civilised  States  the  law 


P.  MILYUKOV 57 

guarantees  Jewish  rights,  and  religious  and 
racial  differences  do  not  create  legal  disabili- 
ties. Nevertheless,  if  anti-Semitism  is  still  in 
existence  in  the  Western  countries,  the  aims  it 
pursues  there  are  political.  It  continues  to  be 
the  weapon  of  political  reaction.  And  its 
objective,  at  its  extreme,  is  by  no  means  like 
the  grandiose  programme  of  utter  destruction 
of  the  Jews  which  is  pursued  by  the  "truly- 
Russian"  theoreticians  of  our  reaction. 

Consequently,  the  Jewish  question  in  Russia 
means,  above  all,  the  legal  disabilities  of  the 
individual  Jews  that  result  from  the  discrimin- 
ations made  against  them  as  a  religious  and 
national  entity.  It  is  only  one  aspect  of  our 
general  inequality  and  of  our  lack  of  civil 
freedom.  The  problem  of  Jewish  equal  rights 
in  Russia  is  the  problem  of  the  equal  rights 
of  all  our  citizens  in  general.  That  is  why  the 
anti-Semitical  parties  in  Russia  have  a  larger 
political  significance  and  importance  than  the 
anti-Semitical  parties  of  the  West.  In  our 
country  they  almost  coincide  with  anti-consti- 
tutional parties,  in  general,  and  anti-Semitism 
is  the  banner  of  the  old  regime,  of  which  we/) 
still  struggle  in  vain  to  rid  ourselves.  This 


58  IN  RUSSIA 


accounts  for  the  fact  that  the  Jewish  question 
occupies  such  a  prominent  place  in  Russian 
social  and  political  lif e.  Here  the  struggle  for 
general  rights  coincides  with  the  struggle  for 
national  rights.  That  is  why  the  Jewish 
problem  has  come  to  occupy  the  centre  of  our 
political  stage. 

I  must  add  that  Russian  anti-Semitism,  as 
defined  above,  is  a  comparatively  new  phenom- 
enon, in  fact,  it  may  be  asserted  that  it  is  a 
phenomenon  of  most  recent  origin.  How- 
ever ancient  may  be  the  instincts  on  which  our 
anti-Semites  try  to  play,  anti-Semitism  itself 
as  a  political  motto,  as  a  movement  with  a  party 
platform  and  definite  aims,  is  a  new  means  of 
political  struggle,  invented  and  applied  only 
in  late  years.  Of  course,  in  the  past  there  can 
be  found  manifestations — very  crude  and 
coarse — of  what  might  be  termed  "zoological'* 
anti-Semitism.  In  1563,  Ivan  the  Terrible 
conquered  Polotzk,  and  for  the  first  time  the 
Russian  Government  was  confronted  by  the 
fact  of  the  existence  of  the  Jewish  nationality. 
The  Czar's  advisers  were  somewhat  perplexed 
and  asked  him  what  to  do  with  these  newly 
acquired  subjects.  Ivan  the  Terrible  an- 


P.  MILYUKOV 59 

swered  unhesitatingly:  "Baptise  them  or 
drown  them  in  the  river." 

They  were  drowned.  And  the  old  Russian 
"zoological"  nationalism  was  satisfied  by  this 
primitive  solution  of  the  problem.  But  the 
political  wisdom  of  Czar  Ivan's  times  has  long 
since  become  obsolete. 

A  century  later  Russian  statehood  for  the 
second  time  ran  across  the  Jewish  problem 
when  Smolensk  was  taken  by  Czar  Alexyey 
Mikhaylovich  the  Debonnaire,  also  an  old 
Russian  nationalist  who  was  not  conscious 
of  his  nationalism.  He  could  not  make  up  his 
mind  to  settle  it  by  simply  destroying  the 
object  which  perplexed  Russia's  political  mind. 
After  due  deliberation,  he  decided  to  have  the 
Jews  deported.  This  was  a  somewhat  milder 
measure.  Another  century  passed,  and  Rus- 
sia conquered  the  vast  and  rich  territory  which 
is  included  in  the  so-called  "Pale  of  Settle- 
ment." This  portion  of  Russia  was  peopled 
with  many  millions  of  Jews.  It  was  not 
possible  any  longer  to  do  away  with  this  large 
population  by  either  drowning  it  in  a  river,  or 
even — as  many  are  still  planning  in  all  earnest- 
ness— by  deportation.  Thus,  the  Russian 


60  IN  RUSSIA 


state,  in  the  person  of  Empress  Catherine  II, 
for  the  first  time  found  itself  forced  to  face 
the  Jewish  question  in  a  form  which  did  not 
allow  of  simply  waving  it  aside.  How  then  did 
the  enlightened  Empress  settle  it?  Well,  she 
simply  did  not  put  the  question.  Her  decision 
was  nearly  this :  The  Jews  have  lived  there — 
let  them  stay  there;  they  had  certain  rights 
relating  to  their  faith  and  property — let  them 
enjoy  these  rights  in  the  future.  The  Inter- 
pretation of  the  Senate  even  more  strongly 
emphasised  this  thought.  Here  is  the  gist  of 
this  Interpretation:  "  Since  the  Imperial 
Ukase  has  placed  the  Jews  in  a  legal  status  of 
equality  with  the  rest  of  the  population,  the 
rule  established  by  her  Majesty  should,  there- 
fore, be  followed  in  application  to  each  par- 
ticular case.  Every  one  should  enjoy  his 
rights  and  acquisitions  according  to  his  con- 
dition and  calling  without  distinction  of  faith 
and  nationality." 

Such  was  the  decision  of  the  Senate  of  the 
time  of  Catherine  the  Great.  There  can  be  no 
question  here  of  a  negative  solution  of  the 
Jewish  problem,  for  the  very  possibility  of 
such  a  problem  was  not  considered.  Least  of 


P.  MILYUKOF  61 

all  did  Catherine  think  that  in  the  lapse  of 
years  her  ukase  of  December  23, 1791,  in  which 
neither  faith  nor  nationality  was  mentioned, 
would  give  birth  to  ...  the  "Pale  of  Settle- 
ment." At  that  time  the  Jews  were  confined 
within  the  limits  of  the  "Pale"  neither  more 
nor  less  than  the  Ukrainian  population  of  that 
section,  or  the  people  of  the  old  Russian 
provinces  were.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
in  those  times  the  law  forbade  a  townsman  to 
take  up  his  residence  in  another  town  or  in  a 
village.  It  was  not  a  special  limitation  in- 
tended for  the  Jews,  it  affected  all  the  Russian 
subjects  throughout  the  Empire.  How  then 
did  it  result  in  a  special  Jewish  disability? 

It  did  not  result  either  from  the  increase  in 
the  rights  of  other  citizens,  or  from  the  limita- 
tion of  the  rights  of  the  Jews  as  a  nationality. 
The  afore-mentioned  limitations  were  removed 
from  the  townspeople  of  non- Jewish  birth  both 
in  the  newly  annexed  provinces  and  elsewhere. 
But  they  remained  in  full  force  in  relation  to 
the  Jews,  living  in  towns.  But  since  all  the 
Jews  were  registered  as  townspeople,  this 
restriction  coincided  with  the  limits  of  their 
nationality.  Hence  arose  the  "Pale"  which 


62  IN  RUSSIA 


assumed  the  character  of  a  national  disability. 
Thus,  the  problem  of  Jewish  disabilities  was 
practically  solved  before  the  legislator  ever 
formulated  the  Jewish  question. 

For  this  reason,  in  the  times  of  Catherine  II, 
when  the  main  features  of  the  future  Jewish 
disabilities  were  becoming  a  fact,  the  Govern- 
ment did  not  solve  the  general  Jewish  question 
in  principle.  Likewise,  during  the  entire 
century  which  followed  Catherine's  reign,  that 
is,  all  through  the  nineteenth  century,  our 
legislation  was  in  a  state  of  constant  indecision. 

A  brief  historical  survey  will  show  plainly 
the  accuracy  of  this  statement.  In  1795  the 
Jews  who  lived  in  the  villages  of  the  Province 
of  Minsk  were  ordered  to  move  to  the  towns. 
In  the  following  year  they  were  permitted  to 
stay  in  the  villages,  because  the  landed  pro- 
prietors employed  them  as  agents  for  the  sale 
of  whiskey.  In  the  year  1801  a  new  edict 
again  expels  the  Jews  from  the  villages.  In 
1802  the  Senate  rules  that  they  must  stay  in 
their  former  places  of  residence.  In  1804 — 
the  year  that  saw  the  first  Regulation  con- 
cerning the  Jews — they  are  ordered  to  be  ex- 
pelled within  three  years  from  the  villages 


P.  MILYUKOF 63 

throughout  the  country.  But  in  1808  before 
the  term  expires  the  law  is  found  impractica- 
ble. The  Jews  again  remained  where  they 
had  been  established,  their  status  being  sub- 
ject to  further  regulation.  Then  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  year  1812  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  law  of  1804  must  be  completely  ab- 
rogated, in  view  of  its  being  unjust  and  dan- 
gerous. Between  1812  and  1827  the  mood  of 
the  legislation  is  again  altered  and  prohibitive 
measures  follow  one  another.  In  1835,  these 
measures  are  once  more  found  to  be  useless 
and  inefficient.  In  1852,  expulsions  are  re- 
newed, but  a  few  years  later,  with  the  begin- 
ning of  the  liberal  reign  of  Alexander  II,  this 
policy  is  again  abandoned  and  an  interval  of 
rest  and  quiet,  covering  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
is  inaugurated.  Then  the  temporary  Regula- 
tions of  1882  undertake  to  prohibit  new  Jew- 
ish settlements  outside  of  towns.  Former 
settlements,  although  illegal,  were  legalised 
and  exempted  from  persecution.  But  in  1893 
all  the  Jews  who  had  illegally  settled  in  the 
villages  were  again  ordered  to  be  expelled 
therefrom.  Nevertheless,  the  committee  of 
the  year  1899  not  only  refused  to  ratify  this 


64  IN  RUSSIA 


measure,  but,  on  the  contrary,  it  recognised 
the  necessity  of  relaxing  even  the  old  Tem- 
porary Regulation  of  1882.  And,  in  fact,  in 
1903  we  find  the  Jewish  settlements  in  158 
villages.  At  the  same  time,  the  Jewish  rural 
population  within  the  limits  of  the  "Pale  of 
Settlement"  grew  considerably.  In  1881 
there  lived  in  the  villages  580,000  Jews;  in 
the  year  1897  they  reached  the  number  of 
711,000. 

Thus  did  our  legislation  concerning  the 
Jews  fluctuate  and  vacillate.  And  amidst 
these  hesitations  the  thought  of  a  complete  re- 
moval of  all  the  Jewish  disabilities  never  died. 
Here  is  another  historical  excursion  covering 
a  century.  The  Committee  of  Jewish  Affairs 
of  the  year  1803  plainly  established  this  regu- 
lation: "the  maximum  of  freedom  and  the  min- 
imum of  limitations."  The  second  Committee, 
whose  activities  fall  in  the  period  from  1807 
to  1812,  proved  even  more  thoroughgoing,  for 
it  was  more  familiar  with  the  conditions  of 
Russian  life.  It  asserted  that  the  Jews  are 
useful  and  necessary  for  the  Russian  village. 
It  added,  furthermore,  that  the  negative,  dark 
phenomena  which  are  attributed  by  some  to  the 


P.  MILYUKOF 65 

presence  of  Jews  in  the  villages,  in  reality  are 
characteristic  of  Russian  life  in  general,  and 
cannot  be  said  to  be  due  to  the  Jewish  influ- 
ence. This  was  also  the  opinion  of  the  minor- 
ity of  the  Imperial  Council  in  1835.  In  1858, 
the  Minister  of  the  Interior  himself  de- 
manded equal  rights  for  the  Jews,  and  the  re- 
actionary Committee  on  Jewish  affairs  agreed 
to  the  demand  on  the  sole  condition  that  the 
disabilities  should  be  removed  gradually,  from 
various  Jewish  groups.  The  new  Committee 
of  1872  acted  even  more  vigorously.  It  be- 
lieved that  the  abolition  of  Jewish  disabilities 
is,  in  general,  nothing  but  an  act  of  justice, 
and  that  this  abolition  must  be  carried  out  not 
gradually,  but  immediately  i.e.  it  must  include 
all  the  groups  of  the  Jewish  population. 
Again,  the  Committee  of  1883  comes  to  the 
same  conclusion  that  it  is  necessary  to  give  the 
Jews  equal  rights.  That  was  the  opinion  even 
of  Von  Pleve,  who  is  known  to  the  world  for 
his  persecution  of  the  Jews.  In  the  period 
from  1905  to  1907  the  revision  of  the  legisla- 
tion concerning  the  Jews  for  the  purpose  of 
abolishing  the  prohibitive  measures  was  con- 
sidered but  a  question  of  time  and  was  left  to 


IN  RUSSIA 


the  consideration  of  the  people's  representa- 
tives in  the  Imperial  Duma  which  had  just 
come  into  being.  The  opinion  of  the  first  two 
sessions  of  the  Duma  is  well  known.  The 
People's  representatives  in  the  first  two  Dumas 
announced  directly  and  unambiguously  that 
the  realisation  of  full  civic  freedom,  for  Jews  as 
well  as  for  the  rest  of  the  citizens,  was  one  of 
their  first  tasks.  Then  a  new  reactionary 
election  law  was  introduced.  It  made  a  radi- 
cal change  in  the  composition  of  the  Imperial 
Duma  and  also  in  the  attitude  of  the  latter  to- 
ward the  Jewish  question.  The  outright  use- 
fulness of  the  part  played  by  the  Jews  in  the 
economic  life  of  both  town  and  village, — this 
fact,  which  even  reactionary  governments, 
ministers  and  committees  ceased  doubting,  was 
again  questioned  by  the  newly  elected  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Russian  people.  It  is  only 
from  that  moment  on  that  it  became  possible 
to  plan  such  measures  as  the  abolition  of  those 
meagre  rights  which  the  Jews  are  still  enjoy- 
ing. Thus,  together  with  the  victory  of  politi- 
cal reaction  the  new  anti-Semitism,  which  we 
cannot  any  longer  overlook,  has  become  tri- 
umphant. 


P.  MILYUKOF 67 

Our  historical  excursion  enables  us  also  to 
explain  the  reason  why  in  the  present  phrase 
of  Russian  social  life  the  Jewish  problem  has 
again  arisen  in  an  unprecedented  form.  It 
was  simply  a  new  political  weapon,  in  a  sense, 
the  result  of  the  new  form  of  political  life. 
As  long  as  the  nation  was  voiceless,  as  long  as 
all  matters  were  decided  by  the  bureaucracy 
in  the  quiet  of  offices,  committees,  and  min- 
istries, it  was  possible  for  the  Government  to 
ignore  the  people  as  a  factor  in  legislation, 
and  to  take  into  account  nothing  but  the  needs 
and  the  welfare  of  the  state  as  it  understood 
them.  But  when  the  nation  was  called  to  par- 
ticipate in  state  affairs,  there  arose  the  need 
of  influencing  it  in  a  certain  sense.  It  became 
necessary  to  work  up  the  masses,  to  act  on 
their  intellect  and  will.  Official  anti-Semitism 
is  the  most  primitive  means  of  satisfying  this 
need,  a  simplified  attempt  to  bridle  the  masses, 
to  suggest  to  them  the  feelings,  motives,  views 
and  methods  which  are  in  the  interest  of  those 
who  play  the  game.  In  other  words,  dema- 
gogy came  into  being.  For  the  purposes  of 
demagogy  a  special  political  weapon,  corre- 
sponding to  the  political  conditions  under  the 


68  IN  RUSSIA 


new  regime,  was  created, — namely  artificial 
political  parties. 

Thus,  anti-Semitism  of  the  new  type,  how- 
ever strange  this  conclusion  may  appear,  is 
the  product  of  the  constitutional  epoch.  It  is 
a  response  to  the  need  for  new  means  of  in- 
fluencing the  masses.  And  in  this  sense  an- 
ti-Semitism plays  in  Russia  the  same  role  as  it 
played  in  Western  Europe. 

Bismarck,  it  will  be  remembered,  called 
anti-Semitism  the  socialism  of  fools.  In  order 
to  combat  the  socialism  of  intelligent  people, 
it  is  necessary  to  take  hold  of  the  ignorant 
masses  and  to  mislead  them  by  showing  them 
the  imaginary  enemy  of  their  welfare  instead 
of  the  real  one.  Anti-Semitism  says  to  the 
ignorant  masses:  "There  is  your  enemy,  fight 
the  Jews,  and  you  will  improve  your  life  con- 
ditions. .  .  ."  It  is  well  known  that  such  at- 
tempts to  apply  anti-Semitism  for  the  purpose 
of  creating  social  parties  of  the  new  type  were 
more  than  once  made  in  the  West.  As  an 
example,  I  shall  cite  the  Christian  Social 
Party  in  Austria,  with  its  late  leader,  Lueger. 

There  is  one  small  difference  between  us 
and  the  West.  In  Russia  the  masses  are  not 


P.  MILYUKOV 69 

so  well  prepared  to  appreciate  a  social  argu- 
ment, even  when  served  in  a  simplified  form. 
In  Russia  anti-Semitism  is  forced  to  present 
this  argument  in  an  even  more  popular  form, 
making  an  appeal  to  the  most  elementary  pas- 
sions and  instincts.  F.  I.  Rodichev  once  re- 
marked in  the  Duma,  parodying  Bismarck's 
aphorism  to  fit  it  to  our  conditions,  that  anti- 
Semitism  is  "the  patriotism  of  perplexed  peo- 
ple." In  fact,  anti-Semitism  in  Russia  is  a 
means  of  creating  a  nationalism  of  a  definite 
type  in  the  masses,  it  is  with  this  aim  in  view 
that  our  anti-Semites  play  on  the  racial  and 
religious  animosities  of  the  masses. 

In  spite  of  this  difference,  the  very  means, 
ways,  and  methods  our  anti-Semites  use  in  their 
striving  to  mould  the  popular  mind  are  of 
distinctly  foreign  origin.  It  is  enough  to  col- 
late the  arguments  expounded  in  the  Duma 
or  printed  in  the  Russian  Standard  and 
ZemshcTiina  with  the  anti-Semitic  literature 
of  the  West,  such  as  Drumont's  books,  or  sim- 
ilar German  works, — and  it  becomes  apparent 
that  in  the  latter  the  entire  anti-Semitic  arse- 
nal of  our  nationalists  is  to  be  found  ready- 
made.  It  is  from  thence  that  mediaeval  legends 


70  IN  RUSSIA 


of  ritual  murders  and  law  projects  concerning 
the  slaughter  of  cattle,  and  such-like  inven- 
tions, are  imported  to  us. 

Anti-Semitism  serves  in  Russia  one  more 
purpose.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  influence  the 
masses.  It  is  also  necessary  to  act  on  the 
powers  that  be.  If  it  is  imperative  to  get  hold 
of  the  masses,  it  is  also  necessary  to  frighten 
the  authorities.  Thus  a  new  version  of  the  anti- 
Semitic  legend  comes  into  being:  the  legend 
of  the  Jew  as  the  creator  of  the  Russian  revo- 
lution. It  is  the  Jew, — so  our  anti-Semites  as- 
sure us — who  created  the  Russian  emancipa- 
tory movements,  it  is  he  who  formed  the  revo- 
lutionary organisation,  it  is  he  who  marched 
under  the  red  banners.  .  .  .  The  Russian  who 
would  give  credence  to  this  tale  would  show 
his  disrespect  for  the  Russian  nation.  To  as- 
sert that  it  is  only  owing  to  the  help  of  the 
Jew  that  the  Russian  people  freed  themselves 
is  tantamount  to  saying  that  without  the  Jew, 
the  Russian  nation  can  not  reach  the  road  of 
its  own  emancipation.  No,  however  great  my 
respect  for  the  exceptional  gifts  of  the  Jew- 
ish people  may  be,  I  will  not  refuse  the  Rus- 


P.  MILYUKOV 71 

sian  nation  the  ability  of  taking  the  initiative 
in  the  cause  of  its  own  freedom. 

But  there  is  another  side  to  this  matter.  If 
there  can  be  no  question  of  the  dependence  of 
the  emancipation  movement  on  the  Jews,  the 
dependence  of  the  Jews  on  the  emancipatory 
movement  is  very  real.  What  must  be  the 
Jew's  attitude  toward  this  movement?  There 
can  be  only  one  answer  to  the  question.  The 
Jewish  masses  have  realised  the  importance  for 
them  of  the  emancipatory  movement  not  only 
because  they  are  more  enlightened,  because 
they  are  more  educated,  because  they  are  not 
addicted  to  alcoholism,  and,  hence,  are  supe- 
rior to  their  neighbours  in  their  understand- 
ing of  their  own  needs ;  the  Jewish  masses  were 
also  led  to  side  with  the  movement  for  freedom 
because  in  their  case  it  was  a  struggle  for  ele- 
mentary rights  the  importance  of  which  is 
plain  to  every  one  and  vitally  concerns  every 
one.  That  is  why  the  entire  Jewish  mass  may 
actually  be  reckoned  in  the  ranks  of  those  who 
are  with  the  Russian  emancipatory  movement. 

One  more  remark  in  conclusion.  In  late 
years  the  "inorodtzy"  (Russian  subjects  of 


72  IN  RUSSIA 


non-Russian  birth),  having  lost  their  hope  that 
the  Russian  emancipatory  movement  would 
bring  them  any  immediate  practical  results, 
have  sought  to  influence  the  Government  by 
means  of  more  direct  methods.  There  are  na- 
tional movements  which  believe  that  they 
would  more  rapidly  get  national  rights  by 
means  of  negotiating  with  the  bureaucracy. 
They  are  inclined  to  think  that  this  way  is  more 
direct  than  the  participation  in  the  Russian 
emancipatory  movement.  Other  national 
groups,  in  the  struggle  for  their  national 
rights,  choose  a  different  kind  of  tactics:  they 
seek  a  more  direct  way  in  another  direction, — 
not  through  the  bureaucracy,  not  from  above, 
but  from  below.  They,  too,  believe  that  the 
"inorodtzy"  must  organise  for  their  specific 
national  aims  and  keep  apart  from  the  common 
cause  of  Russia's  political  emancipation. 

From  what  has  been  said  about  the  peculiar 
nature  of  the  Jewish  question  which  results  in 
the  sufferings  of  the  Jews  not  only  as  a  na- 
tional group,  but  also  as  individual  citizens,  it 
follows  that  it  is  difficult  for  the  Jews  more 
than  for  any  other  group  of  "inorodtzy"  to 
accept  either  one  of  the  aforenamed  tactical 


P.  MILYUKOF 73 

methods.  The  Jews  must  bear  in  mind  with 
especial  clearness  that  their  fate  is  closely  and 
inseparably  interwoven  with  the  fate  of  the 
general  emancipatory  movement  in  Russia. 
They  must  also  keep  in  mind  that  the  separate 
national  movements  which  disrupt  the  bonds 
of  political  parties  in  order  to  make  place  for 
their  national  programmes,  may  prove  in- 
jurious to  our  common  cause.  They  may  lead 
us  away  from  the  common  highroad  to  by- 
paths where  we  all  run  the  risk  of  going  apart 
and  losing  our  way.  And  here  is  the  practical 
conclusion  to  which  these  considerations  lead. 
The  separate  national  movements  should  be 
postponed  until  the  solution  of  the  general 
problem  of  all-Russian  emancipation.  Let 
us  hope  that  the  Jewish  nation  understands  the 
close  connection  existing  between  its  fate  and 
that  of  Russia's  freedom,  now,  as  well  as  it 
did  in  those  years  when  it  fought  in  the  ranks 
of  the  Russian  progressive  movements.  Let 
us  hope  that  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  the 
emancipation  of  the  different  nationalities 
which  people  the  Russian  Empire  will  be 
fought  for  in  the  common  ranks  of  the  ail- 
Russian  movement  for  freedom. 


THE  JEWS  AND  RUSSIAN 
ECONOMIC  LIFE 


Mikhail  Fladimirovich  Bernatzky,  born  in 
1878,  is  a  noted  writer  on  economical  topics. 
He  taught  economics  at  the  Kiev  University 
and  at  the  Polytechnical  Institute,  Petrograd. 


THE  JEWS  AND  RUSSIAN 
ECONOMIC  LIFE 

BY  M.  BERNATZKY 

MUCH  has  been  written  about  the  in- 
sufferable situation  of  the  Russian 
Jews,  these  serfs  of  the  twentieth 
century,  chained  to  "the  Pale  of  Settlement," 
somewhat  like  the  Roman  colons,  "glebae  ad- 
scripti"  The  tragic  history  of  late  years  and 
the  epoch  through  which  we  are  living  can  dis- 
turb the  inner  composure  of  the  most  indif- 
ferent spectator  of  current  events.  It  is  pain- 
ful to  touch  upon  many  aching  and  essentially 
clear  questions,  but  life  constantly  and  severely 
demands  that  they  should  be  brought  before 
our  minds,  and  life  awaits  an  answer  to  them 
from  the  thought  and  conscience  of  Russian 
society. 

It  is  not  our  intention  to  discuss  the  neces- 
sity for  the  removal  of  Jewish  disabilities  from 
the  humanitarian  standpoint.  However  ma- 

77 


78     RUSSIAN  ECONOMIC  LIFE 

jestic  may  be  those  "elementary  principles  of 
law  and  morality,"  which  have  been  achieved 
by  mankind  on  its  long  historic  road  and  which 
are  now  the  very  basis  of  civilisation,  in  the 
eyes  of  many  they  are  still  little  more  than 
"fine  words,"  stylistic  embellishments  of  high- 
brow talk.  Of  course,  the  atmosphere  of  dis- 
criminations is  equally  pernicious  for  those 
who  suffer  and  those  who  are  privileged:  did 
not  serfdom  corrupt  the  master  as  well  as  the 
slave?  All  this  is  eminently  true.  But  there 
are  arguments,  which  we  regret  to  say,  are 
more  appealing  and  convincing.  It  is  these 
arguments  that  we  shall  treat  in  the  present 
paper. 

The  reader  is  well  aware  of  the  fact  that  in 
these  days  nothing  has  been  discussed  more 
vividly  than  the  necessity  of  developing  Rus- 
sia's productive  powers.  The  intimate  con- 
nection between  the  general  prosperity  of  our 
country  and  its  economic  progress  has  pen- 
etrated into  the  consciousness  of  people  at 
large.  It  is  the  war,  evidently,  that  has  driven 
this  truth  home  to  us:  namely  that  the  ulti- 
mate success  of  the  conflict  depends  not  only 
on  the  activity  of  the  armies,  but  also  on  the 


M.  BEENATZKY 79 

economic  stability  of  the  belligerent  nations. 
The  economic  difficulties  which  are  being  ex- 
perienced by  Germany,  strengthen  our  faith 
in  our  final  victory.  More  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago  the  Russian  Minister  of  Finance, 
who  took  great  pains  to  develop  our  industry, 
wrote  in  the  explanatory  memoir  which  ac- 
companied the  project  of  the  state  budget: 

"I  believe  it  to  be  the  duty  I  owe  Your  Im- 
perial Majesty  to  express  my  firm,  clear,  and 
profound  conviction  that  economic  prosperity 
of  the  people  even  when  coupled  with  a  some- 
what imperfect  military  organisation  will  be 
more  useful  in  case  of  war  than  the  most  com- 
plete military  preparedness  combined  with  eco- 
nomic weakness.  In  the  latter  case,  the  peo- 
ple, however  eager  they  may  be  to  sacrifice 
both  their  life  and  property,  can  bring  to  the 
altar  of  the  fatherland  their  life  only,  but  they 
will  be  unable  to  furnish  the  necessary  financial 
means  for  the  State." 

It  is  from  this  standpoint  of  economic  in- 
terests that  we  shall  approach  the  painful  Jew- 
ish question.  The  time  is  long  since  past  when 
it  was  possible  to  say  with  the  Empress  Eliza- 
beth Petrovna:  "From  Christ's  enemies  I  de- 


80     RUSSIAN  ECONOMIC  LIFE 

sire  no  profit."  It  is  precisely  in  this  profit 
that  both  the  Exchequer  and  the  higher  classes, 
and — what  is  most  important — the  people  at 
large,  are  greatly  interested.  The  basic  pro- 
ductive force  of  a  country  is  the  living  work 
of  its  population.  The  body  politic  of  Rus- 
sia contains  about  six  millions  of  gifted  and 
undoubtedly  industrious  Jews.  The  manner 
in  which  the  forces  of  this  people  are  applied 
will  be  treated  further  on.  For  the  moment 
let  us  state  this:  it  is  to  the  interest  of  the  Rus- 
sian State  to  utilise  economically  this  living 
Jewish  energy  as  completely  and  rationally  as 
possible.  From  this  standpoint  all  the  ob- 
stacles which  are  created  for  the  Jews  in  the 
field  of  education  are  absolutely  incompre- 
hensible: it  is  as  if  our  country,  sorely  lacking 
as  it  is  not  only  in  representatives  of  superior 
qualified  labour,  but  actually  in  literate  peo- 
ple, were  striving  to  increase  its  ignorance  and 
intellectual  backwardness.  Of  course,  formal 
justification  can  be  found  for  every  act,  and 
every  evil-doer  endeavours  to  convince  him- 
self of  the  justice  of  his  evil  deeds.  So  it  is 
in  this  case,  too:  the  intentional  shutting-off  of 
the  Jewish  masses  from  education  is  motivated 


M.  BEENATZKY 81 

by  the  desire  to  keep  them  from  becoming 
superior  to  the  Russian  population,  which,  it 
is  said,  is  intellectually  inferior  to  the  Jews. 
This  argument  is  an  outright  insult  flung  in 
the  face  of  the  Russian  people.  It  shows  that 
the  official  guardians  of  the  nation  do  not  know 
its  rich  natural  powers.  But  this  argument 
cannot  obscure  the  essential  nature  of  Jewish 
disabilities  as  an  intentional  neglect  of  that 
productive  power  which  is  represented  by  a 
portion  of  the  Russian  subjects.  Our  eco- 
nomic organism  does  not  get  all  the  benefits  to 
which  it  may  rightfully  lay  claim. 

Let  us  turn  to  those  characteristic  social  and 
economic  conditions  under  which  the  Jews 
exist  in  our  country.  Nearly  all  of  them,  up- 
ward of  five  millions,  live  within  the  Pale  of 
Settlement,  which  comprises  fifteen  govern- 
ments and  Poland,  and  only  six  petf  cent,  live 
outside  of  this  territory.  Within  the  Pale, 
Jews  are  not  allowed  to  buy  or  take  on  lease 
real  estate  outside  the  towns  and  townlets, 
which  circumstance  makes  it  impossible  for 
them  to  become  farmers.  This,  in  connection 
with  the  limitation  of  residence,  has  naturally 
resulted  in  a  peculiar  character  of  the  Jewish 


82     RUSSIAN  ECONOMIC  LIFE 

occupations.  It  is  characteristic  of  the  part 
the  Jews  play  in  Russia's  economic  life  that 
nearly  seventy-three  and  eight  hundredths 
per  cent,  of  them  are  forced  to  seek  employ- 
ment in  the  country's  commerce  and  industry. 
Of  the  entire  Jewish  population  throughout 
the  Empire,  only  two  and  four  tenths  per  cent, 
are  engaged  in  agriculture,  four  and  seven 
tenths  per  cent,  in  liberal  professions,  eleven 
and  five  tenths  per  cent,  in  personal  service 
(domestic  service  etc.) ;  the  rest,  minus  the 
persons  without  any  definite  employment  are 
forced  to  seek  for  means  of  livelihood  in  the 
field  of  commerce  (thirty-one  per  cent.),  in- 
dustry (thirty-six  and  three  tenths  per  cent.), 
and  transport  (three  per  cent.)  In  the  same 
way  works  the  artificial  congestion  of  the  Jews 
in  the  cities :  only  eighteen  per  cent,  live  in  the 
villages  of  the  Pale  of  Settlement,  while  the 
rest — more  than  four-fifths — toil  in  the  towns 
and  townlets.  Such  a  one-sided  distribution 
of  Jewish  labour  would  not  be  a  negative  phe- 
nomenon if  it  were  possible  to  spread  it  uni- 
formly over  the  entire  country.  For,  back- 
ward as  Russia  is  industrially  and  commer- 
cially, the  Jews  would  easily  find  a  place  in  the 


M.  BERNATZKY 83 

fields  of  endeavour  which  suit  them  best  and 
would  greatly  benefit  the  country  by  further- 
ing the  process  of  its  industrialisation.  Un- 
der present  circumstances  they  are  crowded  in 
one  place  and  overburden  the  commerce  and 
the  industry  of  the  Pale  of  Settlement.  As  a 
result,  the  struggle  for  existence  among  them 
is  so  keen  and  desperate  that  in  some  sections 
they  are  undoubtedly  on  the  way  to  degener- 
ation. In  the  West,  Galicia  and  Roumania 
excluded,  the  Jews  are  well  represented  in  the 
wealthy  classes;  in  Russia  an  overwhelming 
portion  of  them  are  proletaries,  "free  like 
birds,"  poverty-stricken  people  who  literally 
do  not  know  to-day  by  what  they  are  going  to 
live  to-morrow.  Heart-rending  pictures  are 
painted  by  impartial  observers  of  the  life  of 
the  Jewish  poorer  classes,  of  all  these  trades- 
men, factory  workers,  petty  merchants  and 
peddlers.  They  literally  starve  and  cripple 
both  mind  and  body  in  the  slums  of  cities  and 
towns.  The  natural  result  is  that  in  their 
eager  search  for  means  of  livelihood  they  are 
forced  to  have  recourse  to  all  sorts  of  expedi- 
ents. Hence,  all  this  talk  about  the  "criminal 
features"  of  the  Jewish  character  and  their  pro- 


84     RUSSIAN  ECONOMIC  LIFE 

pensity  for  financial  speculation,  which  pro- 
pensity is,  however,  easily  forgiven  and  even 
encouraged  in  the  "true-Russian"  representa- 
tives of  our  commercial  interests.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Jews  lower  "the  standards  of 
living"  by  offering  their  services  often  at  a 
very  low  price.  Thus  a  peculiar  "social  anti- 
Semitism"  comes  into  being,  in  Russia  as  well 
as  in  the  countries  of  Jewish  immigration, — 
a  phenomenon  not  unlike  the  movement 
against  "yellow  labour"  in  the  United  States 
and  in  the  Australian  Federation.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  artificially  restrained  field 
of  application  of  Jewish  labour  is  alone  re- 
sponsible for  the  unspeakable  condition  in 
which  it  is  forced  to  exist.  In  spite  of  the  ex- 
odus of  a  large  mass  of  Jews  from  Russia, 
which  bears  analogy  to  the  emigration  of  the 
Irish  people  from  their  native  country, — up- 
ward of  one  and  a  half  million  Jews  left  Rus- 
sia between  the  years  1881  and  1908, — the  re- 
maining millions  seem  to  be  doomed  to  starva- 
tion and  degeneration.  The  popular  tales 
about  Jewish  wealth  are  most  emphatically 
contradicted  by  impartial  facts.  Of  the  emi- 
grants who  reach  the  shores  of  America  the 


M.  BERNATZKY 85 

Jews  are  the  poorest.  A  Scotch  emigrant 
coming  to  the  United  States  brings  on  the  av- 
erage $41.50,  an  Englishman  $38.70,  a  French- 
man $37.80,  a  German  $28.50,  while  a  Jew 
brings  the  sum  of  $8.70,  the  smallest  of  all, 
far  below  the  general  average,  which  is  $15.00. 
Consequently,  if  any  real  danger  at  all  threat- 
ens the  aboriginal  Russian  population,  it  is  pre- 
cisely the  cheap  labour  of  the  congested  Jewish 
masses,  and  the  more  the  Jews  will  be  op- 
pressed the  worse  it  will  be  for  the  Russian 
workman !  For  the  employer  will  always  give 
preference  to  cheaper  labour.  It  is  evident, 
therefore,  that  the  present  treatment  of  the 
Jews  is  really  not  dictated  by  the  native  Rus- 
sian population,  and  that  the  democratic  argu- 
ment is  but  a  false  pretext.  The  Russian  la- 
bour market,  while  congested  in  the  Pale,  is 
scarce  in  other  sections.  That  the  economic 
life  of  Russia,  as  a  whole,  suffers  from  it  is 
obvious. 

In  this  connection,  another  point  is  worthy 
of  our  attention.  Contrary,  to  the  popular 
idea  of  the  Jewish  greed,  the  Jews  are  usually 
satisfied  with  a  lower  rate  of  interest  on  the 
capital  invested,  since  what  they  are  after  is 


86     RUSSIAN  ECONOMIC  LIFE 

the  bare  means  of  livelihood.  In  this  fashion 
they  lower,  to  a  considerable  extent,  the  cap- 
italist's profits,  a  circumstance  which  cannot 
fail  to  irritate  the  Gentile  capitalists.  Con- 
sequently, all  this  comes  to  competition  of 
capital,  and  it  is  significant  that  the  fiercest 
anti-Semitic  outcries  come  from  the  capital- 
istic classes.  Let  us  not  forget  that  the  early 
pogroms  at  Odessa  were  caused  by  the  agita- 
tion of  the  Greek  merchants  who  feared  for 
their  commercial  ascendency. 

What  has  been  said  so  far  demonstrates 
with  sufficient  clearness  that  the  anti-Semitic 
economic  policy  is  detrimental  to  the  economic 
organism  of  Russia  as  a  whole.  The  true  in- 
terests of  our  country  demand  that  Jewish 
labour  and  Jewish  means  should  be  given  com- 
plete freedom  of  application.  Russia  will 
only  gain  from  such  a  change  of  policy  toward 
the  Jews.  Anti-Semitism,  from  the  economic 
standpoint,  is  nothing  but  a  tremendous  waste 
of  the  country's  productive  powers. 

Here  is  another  aspect  of  the  question. 
Whether  the  Jews  as  a  race  are  to  one's  liking 
or  not,  is  a  question  of  individual  taste,  the 
solution  of  which  cannot  be  allowed  to  influ- 


M.  BERNATZKY 87 

ence  the  sane  economic  policy  of  a  state. 
This  must  be  guided  by  objective  data.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  Jews  constitute  more 
than  one  third,  thirty-five  per  cent.,  of  the  com- 
mercial class  in  Russia.  If  we  believe  our 
country's  prosperity  to  be  bound  up  with  the 
process  of  its  progressive  industrialisation,  we 
must  admit  that  the  part  the  Jews  play  in  Rus- 
sia's commercial  life  is  tremendous,  that  to  a 
considerable  degree  they  handle  her  entire 
commerce.  All  that  hinders  the  untram- 
melled manifestation  of  the  Jewish  economic 
energies  is  harmful  to  Russia's  economic  or- 
ganism. 

"If  there  were  no  Jews  now  in  Russia,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  invite  them,  in  the  in- 
terests of  both  the  commercial  and  industrial 
development  of  the  country,  just  as  they  were 
more  than  once  invited  for  the  same  purposes 
in  the  past."  This  conclusion,  reached  by  a 
student  of  the  Jewish  question  in  Russia,  is 
eminently  and  profoundly  true.  The  opinion 
of  an  individual  student  may  not  appear 
authoritative,  but  it  has  been  many  a  time 
endorsed  by  social  groups  and  organisations. 
We  need  not  go  far  back  into  history  to  find 


88     RUSSIAN  ECONOMIC  LIFE 

facts  of  this  sort.  In  1912  at  the  time  when 
the  customary  fair  was  in  full  swing,  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Nizhni-Novgorod  showed  an  unusual 
zeal  in  persecuting  the  Jews.  This  was  in  all 
probability  connected  with  the  Duma  pre- 
election campaign.  The  "Society  of  the 
Manufacturers  and  Mill  Owners  of  the  Mos- 
cow Industrial  Section,"  an  organisation 
which  is  rather  far  from  being  liberal  in  its 
opinions,  saw  fit  to  interfere  in  its  own  inter- 
ests. A  memoir  dealing  with  the  prohibitive 
measures  directed  against  the  Jews  was  com- 
posed and  presented,  through  the  president 
of  the  Society,  Mr.  Goujon,  to  the  chairman 
of  the  Council  of  the  Ministers.  Here  is  a 
quotation  from  this  memoir:  "In  the  eco- 
nomic life  of  the  country  the  Jews  play  the 
part  of  middlemen,  placed  between  the  pro- 
ducer and  the  consumer  of  goods.  In  the 
Northwestern,  Southern,  and  Southwestern 
provinces  this  function  is  almost  exclusively 
that  of  the  Jews.  To  isolate  under  such  con- 
ditions, the  commercial  and  industrial  popula- 
tion of  a  considerable  section  of  the  country 
from  the  centre  of  its  manufacturing  districts 
is  equivalent  to  inflicting  a  tremendous  loss  not 


M.  BERNATZKY 89 

only  on  the  Jewish  merchant  class  but  also  on 
the  many  millions  of  the  non-Jewish  popula- 
tion. ...  To  isolate  the  village  from  the 
town,  the  towns  of  the  West  and  South  from 
the  towns  and  villages  of  the  Centre  and  the 
East,  is  to  disturb  intentionally  the  economic 
life  of  the  country,  to  undermine  credit  and 
depreciate  the  people's  labour." 

That  is  the  opinion  of  the  Moscow  manufac- 
turers. Well  aware  of  the  real  needs  of  the 
country,  and  unwilling  to  sacrifice  their  com- 
mercial interests  to  anti-humanitarian  mot- 
toes, they  expressed  their  fear  that  the  actions 
of  the  administration  would  hinder  the  realisa- 
tion of  the  harvest  and  that  the  "stocks  of 
goods  would  find  neither  consumers  nor  buy- 
ers nor  energetic  middlemen  to  the  extent  to 
which  they  otherwise  would  have." 

The  Jewish  people  has  grown  to  be  a  living 
part  of  Russia's  economic  organism,  and  the 
blows  which  are  directed  against  the  Jews  af- 
fect in  an  equal,  if  not  a  greater,  degree  the 
mass  of  the  aboriginal  Russian  population. 
We  do  not  intend  to  discuss  here  the  Zionistic 
dreams  and  aspirations  of  the  Jews.  One 
thing  is  clear  to  us,  namely,  that  a  complete 


90     RUSSIAN  ECONOMIC  LIFE 

exodus  of  the  Jews  from  Russia  would  be 
greatly  detrimental  to  her  economic  develop- 
ment. The  Western  world  understands  this 
truth  very  well.  Werner  Sombart  in  his 
work  Die  Zukunft  der  Juden  (The  Future 
of  the  Jews)  reaches  the  following  conclusion: 
"If  by  a  miracle  all  the  Jews  would  decide  to- 
morrow to  emigrate  to  Palestine  we  (the  Ger- 
mans) would  never  allow  them  to.  For  it 
would  mean  a  catastrophe  in  the  field  of  eco- 
nomic relation,  not  to  speak  of  other  fields, 
such  as  we  have  never  as  yet  experienced  and 
which  would  probably  cripple  our  economic 
organism  forever." 

But  we,  Russians,  give  little  thought  to  such 
questions.  As  late  as  the  year  1914  we  did  not 
hesitate  to  inaugurate  new  restrictive  meas- 
ures, which  it  took  the  great  trial  of  this  War 
to  stop. 

Whoever  has  our  economic  welfare  at  heart, 
whoever  dreams  about  the  mighty  develop- 
ment of  our  country  and  of  its  real  emancipa- 
tion from  foreign  influence, — inasmuch  as  this 
is  generally  possible, — must  understand  that 
anti-Semitism  is  the  worst  foe  of  our  economic 
prosperity,  that,  in  short,  the  Jewish  question 


M.  BEENATZKY 91 

is  a  Russian  question.  Full  rights  for  the 
Jews,  equal  with  those  that  the  rest  of  the 
population  of  the  Empire  enjoy,  are  an  indis- 
pensable condition  for  our  peaceful  cultural 
development.  Only  on  that  basis  can  we 
achieve  the  broad  ideals  which  have  come  into 
prominence  in  this  tragic  struggle  with  Ger- 
man imperialism. 


THE  WAR  AND  THE  STATUS  OF 
THE  JEW 


Prince  Paul  Dmitriyevich  Dolgorukov,  a 
prominent  leader  of  the  emancipatory  move- 
ment in  Russia,  was  born  in  1866.  He  is 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Constitutional 
Democratic  party,  and  for  a  while  he  stood  at 
the  head  of  the  Central  Committee  of  this 
party.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Second 
Duma,  where  he  represented  the  city  of  Mos- 
cow. 


THE  WAR  AND  THE  STATUS 
OF  THE  JEW 

BY  PRINCE  PAUL  DOLGORUKOV 

THE  storm  that  has  recently  swept  over 
our  country  brought  to  light  a  series 
of  conditions  which  have  been  weigh- 
ing down  upon  the  Russian  nation  for  a  good 
many  years.     These  conditions  on  account  of 
their  long  duration  have  come  to  be  consid- 
ered   as    something   habitual.     The   impossi- 
bility of  their  further  continuance,  at  least  in 
their  present  form,  has  suddenly  become  quite 
apparent. 

The  first  among  these  is  the  existing  atti- 
tude toward  peoples  whose  fate  is  closely  in- 
terwoven with  the  fate  of  Russia.  The  need 
for  a  new  policy  toward  the  Poles  has  been 
recognised  officially  and  solemnly.  The  hour 
for  settling  the  Jewish  question  has  also 
struck.  The  contrast  between  the  duties  and 
responsibilities  of  the  Jew  toward  the  state 

95 


96     WAR  AND  STATUS  OF  JEW 

and  his  position  in  the  country  where  he  is 
deprived  of  all  rights  and  privileges  has  al- 
ways existed;  during  the  war  this  contradic- 
tion has  become  so  pronounced  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  overlook  it  any  longer. 

Hundreds  of  thousands  of  Jews  are  shed- 
ding their  blood  for  Russia,  while  at  home  they 
are  deprived  of  such  elementary  rights  as  other 
Russian  subjects  could  lose  only  when  con- 
victed of  crime.  When  a  population  of  six 
million  occupies  such  a  position,  the  fact  is 
bound  to  make  itself  felt  in  all  walks  of  life; 
but  what  the  war  has  made  supremely  clear  is 
the  limitations  to  which  the  Jew  is  subjected 
as  to  his  right  to  choose  freely  his  place  of 
residence  and  to  give  his  children  an  education. 

The  so-called  "Pale  of  Settlement,"  Poland 
and  the  southwestern  section,  constituted  the 
arena  for  the  early  operations  of  the  war. 
The  tradesmen,  the  merchants,  all  people  of 
any  means  were  ruined;  the  poor  workman 
was  left  without  a  crust  of  bread.  The  in- 
vading foe  forced  both  these  groups  to  flee. 
Where  were  they  to  flee?  The  simplest  solu- 
tion that  presented  itself  was  for  them  to  go 
into  other  cities  of  the  "Pale."  But  the  bur- 


PRINCE  PAUL  DOLGORUKOF    97 

den  of  the  war  was  felt  there  also.  The  chief 
bread-winner  of  the  family  had  gone  to  war; 
both  industries  and  trades  were  crippled. 
Emigration,  the  safety  valve  of  poverty,  was 
now  impossible.  Into  the  midst  of  this  suf- 
fering came  pouring  in  the  refugees  from  the 
border  regions,  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the 
other,  the  exiles  from  Germany  and  Austria, 
where  they  had  previously  found  food  and 
shelter,  and  whence  they  had  now,  so  to  speak, 
been  thrown  overboard. 

The  economic  role  of  such  an  element, 
hungry  and  unemployed,  is  easily  appraised. 
Small  wonder,  then,  that  such  a  condition 
should  become  absolutely  unbearable;  starva- 
tion has  become  a  common  occurrence,  and 
many  prefer  suicide  to  asking  for  alms.  And 
should  some  of  these  care  to  ask  for  aid  there 
is  no  one  who  could  offer  it,  since  the  local 
population  cannot  cope  with  the  need  that  has 
so  suddenly  swooped  down  upon  them. 

Russia  is  a  vast  country,  as  is  the  soul  of  the 
Russian.  Enough  land  and  bread  exists  for 
all  its  children.  Many  have  relatives  who 
would  welcome  the  refugees  and  exiles  into 
their  homes  for  the  time  being;  many  could 


98     WAR  AND  STATUS  OF  JEW 

earn  their  livelihood.  But  in  accordance  with 
the  existing  regulations  the  authorities  must 
observe  that  no  one  who  has  not  the  right  of 
residence  should  come  without  the  "Pale." 
The  absurdity  of  such  regulations  becomes 
more  apparent  when  applied  to  participants  in 
the  war.  Thousands  of  wounded  Jewish  sol- 
diers are  scattered  all  over  Russia,  many  out- 
side the  "Pale."  Their  own  may  not  come  to 
stay  with  them  nor  even  visit  them.  Should 
one  of  these  wounded  die,  his  people  are  de- 
prived of  the  privilege  of  paying  their  last  re- 
spects to  him;  unless  they  choose  to  violate  the 
law  and  remain  during  the  visit  in  hiding  with- 
out registering  their  arrival. 

The  conditions  under  which  the  Jewish  child 
may  be  educated  are  at  present  fraught  with 
similar  difficulties.  A  great  number  of  edu- 
cational institutions  in  the  south  and  west  are 
now  closed  The  parents  are  recommended  to 
transfer  their  children  to  other  cities — in  which 
case  the  local  schools  have  been  allowed  to 
accept  Jewish  pupils  in  excess  of  their  regu- 
lation percentage.  But  the  possibility  of  util- 
ising this  privilege  in  institutions  outside  of 
the  "Pale"  is  in  its  turn  combined  with  the 


PRINCE  PAUL  DOLGORUKOV    99 

"right  of  settlement,"  which  condition  certainly 
limits  the  application  of  this  privilege  With 
this  exception,  all  other  educational  institu- 
tions of  higher  and  middle  grades,  strictly  ob- 
serve the  usual  percentage  and  the  drawing 
of  lots,  on  the  basis  of  which  the  Jewish  stu- 
dents are  accepted.  These  limitations  have 
become  especially  conspicuous,  because  the  war 
has  completely  done  away  with  the  possibility 
of  entering  the  universities  of  Germany  and 
Austria,  to  which  the  Jewish  youth  flocked 
prior  to  the  war. 

Another  question  arises :  Where  should  the 
Jewish  students,  who  have  begun  their  studies 
at  a  foreign  university,  now  turn?  In  vain 
do  they  knock  at  the  doors  of  the  higher  in- 
stitutions; these  remain  closed  to  them,  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  there  are  many  vacancies  there. 
They  cannot  get  back  to  the  universities  of 
either  Germany  or  Austria.  Thus  must  they 
waste  years  of  persistent  effort  and  vast 
amounts  of  energy,  and  very  many  of  them 
will  not  be  in  a  position  to  continue  their 
studies,  and  subsequently  serve  their  own  coun- 
try, which  is  so  sadly  in  need  of  educated  men. 
Are  all  these  discriminations  against  Jewish 


100     WAR  AND  STATUS  OF  JEW 

people  essential  for  the  great  Russia,  which  is 
now  called  upon  to  free  nations  and  peoples 
from  a  foreign  tyranny? 

The  complete  abrogation  of  all  national  dis- 
abilities must  pass  through  our  legislative  in- 
stitutions, but  the  loosening  of  the  existing 
limitations  is  a  measure  which  it  is  perfectly 
possible  to  take  at  once. 


JEWISH  RIGHTS  AND  THEIR 
ENEMIES 


Professor  Maxim  Maximovich  Kovalevsky, 
one  of  the  greatest  Russian  sociologists,  was 
born  in  1851.  Owing  to  his  political  convic- 
tions, he  had  to  leave  Russia.  In  1901  he 
founded  in  Paris  the  Russian  Higher  School 
of  Social  Sciences,  the  faculty  of  which  con" 
sisted  of  exiled  Russian  scholars  and  political 
emigrants.  In  1905  he  came  back  to  Russia, 
resumed  his  University  work  and  took  an  ac- 
tive part  in  the  political  movement.  In  1906 
he  was  elected  to  the  Duma  and  in  1907  to  the 
Imperial  Council.  He  died  in  1916. 


JEWISH  RIGHTS  AND  THEIR 
ENEMIES 

BY  MAXIM  KOVALEVSKY 

IF  the  question  should  be  put  as  to  who  at 
present  stands  in  the  way  of  Jewish  equal 
rights  and  who  demands  still  further 
limitations  of  the  Jews'  participation  in  both 
military  and  civil  service,  the  answer  is  that  no 
one  class  follows  a  more  systematic  and  more 
definite  programme  in  this  connection  than  the 
League  of  United  Nobility.  In  the  year  1913 
one  of  their  conventions  made  the  following 
recommendations,  recorded  in  a  volume  pub- 
lished in  the  name  of  the  league,  and  here 
quoted  literally: 

"I.  Jews  and  converted  Jews  should  not  be 
allowed  to  serve  in  the  army  and  navy  either  as 
regular  recruits  or  as  volunteers,  nor  should 
they  be  admitted  to  military  schools. 

"II.  Jews  and  converted  Jews  should  not  be 

103 


104  JEWISH  EIGHTS 

allowed  to  take  part  in  the  electoral  conven- 
tions of  the  Zemstvos. 

"III.  Jews  and  converted  Jews  are  not  to 
be  permitted  to  serve  in  the  Zemstvos. 

"IV.  Jews  and  converted  Jews  are  not  to  be 
permitted  to  serve  in  any  municipal  capacity. 

"V.  Jews  and  converted  Jews  should  not  be 
permitted  to  enter  the  civil  service. 

"VI.  Jews  and  converted  Jews  should  not 
be  included  in  the  lists  of  jurors;  they  may  not 
be  appointed  or  elected  to  serve  in  courts,  they 
may  not  practice  as  either  advocates  or 
attorneys." 

These  recommendations  are  clearly  at  vari- 
ance with  the  trend  of  Russian  legislation 
throughout  the  reigns  of  Peter  the  Great, 
Catherine  the  Second  and  Alexander  the 
First.  Peter  the  Great  called  into  the  service 
of  the  Russian  government  all  subjects  irre- 
spective of  their  nationality  or  religion.  His 
fellow  champions  were  representatives  of  dif- 
ferent nationalities  such  as  Bruce,  Bauer, 
Repnin,  Menshicov  and  Yaguzhinsky.  As  to 
Catherine  the  Second,  our  code  of  laws  still 
retains  the  expression  of  her  wish  that  all  the 
peoples  of  Russia,  each  according  to  the  pre- 


MAXIM  KOVALEVSKY         105 

cepts  of  its  religion,  should  pray  to  the 
Almighty  for  the  welfare  of  its  rulers,  and 
should  all  be  equally  benefited  by  its  govern- 
ment. 

In  his  "Principles  of  the  Russian  Govern- 
mental Law"  Professor  Gradovsky  says :  "In 
the  reign  of  Peter  the  Great  there  were  no 
general  regulations  concerning  the  Jews. 
Measures  against  the  Jews  date  from  the 
reign  of  Catherine  the  First.  During  the 
reign  of  Catherine  the  Second,  little  was  added 
to  the  existing  array  of  limitations.  In  the 
districts  in  which  the  first  Partition  of  Poland 
found  them,  the  Jews  at  that  time  enjoyed 
almost  all  the  rights  of  the  native  Russian 
citizen.  Although  the  Empress  recognized 
the  "Pale  of  Settlement"  Created  in  the  reign 
of  Peter  the  Second,  she,  nevertheless,  stretched 
its  boundaries  to  include  not  only  Little  Russia 
but  also  the  Vice-Royalty  of  Ekaterinoslav 
and  the  province  of  Taurida,  wherein  the  Jews 
were  granted  all  rights  of  citizenship.  In  the 
"Regulations  Concerning  the  Jews"  published 
in  1804,  in  the  reign  of  Alexander  the  First, 
the  principle  of  equal  civil  rights  for  this  nation 
is  brought  out  in  Article  42.  "All  the  Jews 


106  JEWISH  EIGHTS 

in  Russia,"  says  this  article,  "whether  residents 
or  new  settlers  or  foreigners  coming  to  transact 
business  are  free  and  are  to  be  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  law  on  a  par  with  other  Russian 
subjects."  In  commenting  upon  this  article, 
Professor  Gradovsky  writes  that  this  is  clearly 
an  attempt  to  fuse  the  Jewish  nation  with  the 
rest  of  the  Russian  population  by  giving  the 
former  definite  civil  rights. 

Only  during  the  last  year  of  the  reign  of 
Alexander  the  First  were  some  measures 
adopted  whereby  the  "Pale  of  Settlement"  was 
narrowed  down  because  of  a  certain  sect  of 
"Sabbathists,"  closely  related  to  Judaism, 
which  had  greatly  increased  in  numbers,  par- 
ticularly in  the  provinces  of  Voronezh,  Samara, 
Tula,  and  others.  According  to  the  "Regula- 
tions Concerning  the  Jews"  of  1835,  enacted  in 
the  reign  of  Nicholas  the  First,  the  Jews 
retained  the  right  to  own  all  kinds  of  real  estate, 
with  the  exception  of  inhabited  estates  and  to 
deal  in  all  kinds  of  merchandise  on  the  same 
basis  as  the  other  citizens, — of  course,  only 
within  the  "Pale." 

It  is  noteworthy  that  at  this  time  the  Jews 
were  allowed  to  attend  governmental  schools 


MAXIM  KOFALEFSKY        107 

of  all  grades,  and  that  graduates  from  these 
were  granted  certain  privileges.  It  is  only 
toward  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Nicholas  I  that 
the  government  adopts  a  system  of  limitations 
relating  to  the  Jews,  without,  however,  re- 
straining their  right  to  attend  the  govern- 
mental educational  institutions.  On  the  31st 
of  March,  1856,  an  imperial  edict  was  issued 
ordering  a  revision  of  the  existing  regulations 
relating  to  the  Jews.  Therein  it  is  clearly 
stated  that  the  purpose  of  this  revision  is  to 
conciliate  these  regulations  with  the  intention 
of  the  government  to  fuse  this  people  with  the 
native  population  of  the  land.  During  the 
entire  reign  of  Alexander  II  no  limitations 
existed  for  the  entrance  of  Jews  into  the  Uni- 
versities and  the  other  educational  institutions. 
On  the  contrary,  according  to  Gradovsky,  the 
limitations  within  the  "Pale"  did  not  apply  to 
persons  desiring  to  obtain  a  higher  education, 
namely  to  those  entering  the  medical  academy, 
the  universities,  and  the  Institute  of  TechnoL 
ogy.  Gradovsky  refers  to  the  continuation  of 
the  "Code  of  Laws,"  of  1868.  The  book  was 
published  in  1875,  while  this  freedom  was  in 
full  swing.  Within  the  "Pale,"  the  Jews  had 


108  JEWISH  EIGHTS 

equal  commercial  rights  with  other  citizens. 
Until  the  Polish  rebeUion  of  1863  the  Jews 
were  permitted  to  own  real  estate,  not  only  in 
cities  but  also  in  rural  districts.  After  the 
rebellion  this  was  forbidden  to  them  as  well  as 
to  the  Poles.  The  foreign  Jew  could  come  to 
Russia  freely  and  register  on  the  same  foreign 
passport  as  would  be  required  from  any  other 
citizen  of  that  country. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  follows  that 
many  of  the  limitations,  which  at  present  weigh 
down  upon  the  Jews  have  been  created  only 
recently.  The  present  reign,  too,  was  begun 
with  measures  favoring  the  Jew.  In  1903,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  the  Jews,  in  accordance 
with  a  law  which  was  confirmed  in  1872,  were 
forbidden  to  live  in  villages  even  within  the 
"Pale,"  two  hundred  of  these  villages  were 
turned  into  towns,  and  later  fifty-seven  more 
were  added  to  this  number.  The  measure 
rendered  these  places  legally  habitable  by  the 
Jews.  On  August  11,  1904,  a  law  was  passed 
wherein  it  was  emphatically  stated  that  Jews 
who  were  graduates  from  a  university  were  to 
be  permitted  to  live  freely  everywhere  in  the 
Empire.  But  since  the  repression  of  the  revo- 


MAXIM  KOFALEFSKY        109 

lutionary  movement,  this  privilege  has  become 
a  pretext  for  the  restriction  of  the  admittance 
of  Jews  into  higher  educational  institutions. 

From  the  viewpoint  of  the  interests  of  the 
Russian  state,  the  existing  disabilities  of  the 
Jews  are  detrimental  both  to  our  economic  life, 
and  to  the  mutual  relations  among  our  citizens; 
they  also  work  havoc  upon  the  progress  of  edu- 
cation as  well  as  upon  the  raising  of  the  gen- 
eral level  of  our  culture.  Measures  limiting  a 
portion  of  the  population  in  its  rights  to 
acquire  property,  to  obtain  an  education  in 
middle  and  higher  state  schools,  to  assume  the 
responsibilities  of  a  judge  or  of  a  lawyer,  and, 
in  general,  restraining  its  freedom  to  pursue  a 
professional  career — are  clearly  irreconcilable 
with  the  promises  given  us  in  the  manifesto  of 
the  17th  of  October,  1906. 

The  fear  that  the  granting  of  equal  rights 
to  the  Jews  may  deprive  the  peasant  of  his 
land,  is  perfectly  groundless.  There  are  many 
other  means  whereby  the  tiller  of  the  soil  may 
be  assured  the  possession  of  a  portion  of  land. 
In  the  West  we  have  systems  such  as  that  of 
the  homestead,  based  on  the  inalienability  of 
the  family  property  (bien  de  famille).  Such 


110  JEWISH  EIGHTS 

systems  may  be  traced  back  as  far  as  the 
Middle  Ages.  The  mediaeval  law  forbids  the 
taking  away  from  the  peasant,  even  for  arrear- 
age, of  his  agricultural  implements  and  the  cat- 
tle necessary  for  his  labour, — not  to  speak  of  his 
land,  which,  however,  it  would  be  impossible 
to  take  away,  since  it  is  the  suzerain  that  is  its 
rightful  owner.  The  indivisibility  of  the 
family  estate,  which  only  a  short  time  ago  was 
recognised  by  the  Appellatory  Division  of  our 
Senate,  with  reference  to  the  Western  Section, 
was  achieving  the  same  results  because  for  the 
sale  of  such  property  the  agreement  of  all  the 
members  of  the  family  was  required.  Such  a 
protection  of  the  interests  of  the  peasant  land- 
owner is  essential  in  his  relation  to  the  capita- 
list, whether  it  be  a  member  of  the  landed 
gentry  or  a  wealthy  peasant,  known  as  a  Kulak, 
or  a  Jew  who  lends  money  at  interest,  or  an  Ar- 
menian or,  for  that  matter,  a  usurer  of  the 
Orthodox  faith.  In  order  that  the  land  be 
retained  by  the  peasant  it  is  far  more  essential 
that  only  members  of  the  peasant  class  be 
allowed  to  attend  the  auction  sales  of  land  sold 
because  of  the  owner's  arrears.  And  yet  our 
law  has  permitted  outsiders  to  attend  if  not  the 


MAXIM  KOFALEFSKY        111 

first  auction  sale,  at  least  the  second.  I  am 
strongly  in  favour  of  protecting  the  peasant's 
property,  but  I  cannot  see  that  to  achieve  this 
goal,  it  is  necessary  for  a  body  politic  based  on 
law  to  limit  any  one's  freedom  of  moving  about, 
settling  or  choosing  a  profession.  This  view  is 
shared  by  some  of  the  political  writers  in 
Russia  who,  like  the  late  B.  N.  Chicherin,  Pro- 
fessor of  the  University  of  Moscow,  have 
identified  their  names  with  the  defence  of  the 
idea  of  equal  rights  for  the  Jews. 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION  AS  A 
RUSSIAN  QUESTION 


Dmitry  Sergeyevich  Merezhkovsky  occupies 
an  important  place  in  modern  Russian  letters 
and  religious  philosophy.  He  is  responsible 
for  several  books  of  poems  and  for  a  series  of 
ponderous  historical  novels.  He  is  also  the 
author  of  numerous  critical  studies  distin- 
guished by  an  original  method  and  an  extra- 
ordinary brilliancy.  He  was  born  in  1866. 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION  AS  A 
RUSSIAN  QUESTION 

BY  DMITRY  MEREZHKOVSKY 

RUSSIA  .  .  .  Russia  alone  should  be 
our  deepest  concern  at  present. 
The  destiny  of  the  numerous  races 
and  nationalities  that  go  to  make  Russia  is  the 
destiny  of  the  Russian  Empire  itself.  One 
would  ascertain  the  attitude  of  these  national- 
ities by  asking  them:  "Are  you  with  Russia 
or  is  it  your  desire  to  exist  apart  from  her?  If 
you  desire  to  exist  apart  from  her — why,  then, 
do  you  appeal  to  us  for  help?  If  with  us — let 
us  then,  in  this  time  of  terror,  disdain  to  con- 
sider our  personal  fortunes  and  let  our  thoughts 
be  with  Russia  and  with  her  alone.  For  with- 
out her  your  existence  is  inconceivable;  her  rise 
is  your  rise  and  her  fall  is  your  fall." 

We  would  like  very  much  to  say  that  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  the  Jewish,  Polish,  Ukrai- 
nian, Armenian,  Georgian,  question,  that  there 

115 


116     THE  JEWISH  QUESTION 

is  only  one  question — the  Russian.  Yes,  we 
would  like  to,  but  we  cannot;  the  Russian 
people  have  yet  to  earn  the  right  to  say  that, 
and  therein  lies  their  tragedy.  .  .  .  The  mo- 
ment Russian  idealism  ventures  to  tackle  any 
of  those  complicated  national  home  problems, 
— it  becomes  weak,  impotent  and  therefore 
irresponsible. 

The  Jewish  question  is  a  striking  illustration 
of  what  we  have  just  said.  What  do  we  owe 
the  Jews?  Indignation?  Or  the  admission 
that  anti-Semitism  is  abominable?  But  we 
admitted  that  a  long  time  ago,  and  our  indig- 
nation runs  so  high  and  is  so  clearly  outspoken 
that  it  is  beyond  one's  power  even  to  speak 
calmly  of  it.  The  only  thing  we  can  do  is  to 
join  our  voice  to  that  of  the  Jews.  And  we 
do. 

But  outcries,  loud  as  they  may  be,  are  not 
sufficient,  and  it  is  the  consciousness  of  the  fact, 
that  the  outcries  are  insufficient  and  that  at  the 
present  moment  we  possess  no  other  weapons 
with  which  to  fight  the  evil  that  wearies  and 
harrows  us. 

What  misery,  and  pain,  and  shame! 

But  in  spite  of  the  pain  and  the  shame  we 


DMITRY  MEREZHKOVSKY    117 

cry  out  and  reiterate  and  declare  to  the  people 
around  us,  who  are  ignorant  of  the  table  of 
multiplication,  that  two  and  two  make  four, 
that  the  Jews  are  human  beings  like  us;  that 
they  are  neither  enemies  nor  traitors  to  their 
country;  that  they  are  as  good  citizens  as  we 
are ;  that  they  love  Russia  no  less  than  we  do, 
and  that  anti-Semitism  is  a  disgraceful  stigma 
upon  Russia's  face.  But  apart  from  our 
righteous  indignation,  may  we  not  be  allowed 
calmly  to  utter  one  thought  that  occurs  to  us 
at  this  moment? 

"  Judophilism"  and  "  Judophobia"  are  closely 
related.  A  blind  denial  of  a  nationality  en- 
genders an  equally  blind  affirmation  of  it. 
An  absolute  "Nay"  naturally  brings  forth  an 
absolute  "Yea."  * 

Whom  do  we  call  a  "Judophile"  in  Russia 
at  the  present  time?  Presumably,  it  is  he  or 
she  who  loves  the  Jews  with  a  singular  love, 
who  finds  in  them  greater  values  than  in  any 
other  nationality.  In  the  eyes  of  the  so-called 
"true  Russians"  we,  the  Intellectuals,  are  such 
Judophiles. 

"Why  worry  over  the  Jews  all  the  time?" 
the  Russian  Nationalists  say  to  us. 


118     THE  JEWISH  QUESTION 

Now,  how  on  earth  can  we  stop  worrying 
over  the  Jews,  and,  for  that  matter,  over  the 
Poles,  Armenians,  Ukrainians,  Georgians,  and 
so  forth?  When  in  our  presence  some  one  is 
being  outraged,  we  cannot  merely  pass  on;  it 
is  not  humane.  We  must  help  him  who  is 
being  assailed.  At  least,  we  ought  to  join 
our  voice  with  his  in  crying  out  for  help.  This 
is  precisely  what  we  have  been  doing,  and  woe 
to  us,  if  we  cease  to  do  it,  cease  to  be  human 
beings  in  order  to  become  Russians. 

A  forest  of  national  problems  has  grown 
around  us,  and  the  sounds  of  the  Russian 
language  are  being  drowned  by  the  voices  of 
all  the  numerous  peoples  that  inhabit  Russia. 
It  is  inevitable  and  just.  We  are  not  well,  but 
with  them  it  is  still  worse.  We  have  great 
pain,  but  their's  is  greater.  We  must  forget 
ourselves  for  their  sake. 

That  is  why  we  say  to  the  "Nationalists" : 

"Cease  oppressing  the  non-Russian  element 
of  our  empire,  so  that  we  may  have  the  right  to 
be  Russians,  and  that  we  may  with  dignity 
show  our  national  face,  as  that  of  a  human 
being,  not  that  of  a  beast.  Cease  to  be 
'Judophobes'  so  that  we  may  cease  to  be 


DMITRY  MEREZHKOFSKY    119 

'Judophiles.'  Here  is  an  instance  taken  at 
random. 

The  Jewish  question  has  a  religious  as  well 
as  a  national  aspect.  Between  Judaism  and 
Christianity,  as  between  two  poles,  there  are 
strong  attractions  and  equally  strong  repul- 
sions. Judaism  gave  birth  to  Christianity. 
The  New  Testament  issued  from  the  Old 
Testament.  Paul  the  Apostle,  who  more  than 
any  one  else  fought  Judaism,  wrote:  "For  I 
could  wish  that  myself  were  accursed  from 
Christ  for  my  brethren,  my  kinsmen  according 
to  the  flesh." 

But  whereas  we  may  speak  of  attractions, 
it  is  not  well  for  us  to  speak  of  repulsions. 
Indeed,  how  can  we  quarrel  with  him,  who  has 
no  voice?  The  disabilities  of  the  Jews  seal 
our  lips.  We  must  not  separate  Christianity 
from  Judaism,  for  it  means,  as  one  Jew  put  it, 
the  establishment  of  another,  spiritual  "Pale 
of  Settlement."  Let  us  do  away  with  the 
physical  Pale,  then  we  will  be  able  to  discuss 
the  spiritual  one.  Until  then,  all  our  protesta- 
tions and  declarations  of  righteousness  will 
only  prove  to  the  Jews  our  insincerity. 

Why  has  the  Jewish  question  become  so  keen 


120     THE  JEWISH  QUESTION 

in  time  of  war?  For  the  same  reason  that  the 
rest  of  the  national  problems  have  made  them- 
selves felt. 

We  have  called  the  present  struggle  a  war 
of  liberation.  We  entered  the  war  with  the 
avowed  purpose  of  liberating  those  who  are 
situated  at  a  distance  from  us.  While  liberat- 
ing distant  strangers,  why  then  do  we  oppress 
those  who  live  close  by  our  side?  We  wage 
war  against  tyranny  outside  of  Russia,  and  we 
allow  oppression  to  reign  within  her.  We 
pity  everybody  but  the  Jews.  Why? 

Are  they  not  dying  on  the  battlefields  for 
our  sake?  Do  they  not  love  us — who  hate 
them?  Do  we  not  hate  them — who  love  us? 
If  we  continue  to  act  as  we  have  done  in  the 
past,  would  not  everybody  lose  faith  in  us,  and 
would  not  the  nations  of  the  earth  be  justified 
in  saying  to  us:  "You  can  love  only  from 
afar.  You  are  liars  1" 

We  believed  our  righteousness  to  be  our 
strongest  weapon.  We  wanted  to  conquer 
brute  force  by  the  truth.  If  we  persist  in  this 
desire,  let  us  not  lie;  let  us  not  weaken  our 
truth  by  falsehood. 

The  Teutons  say:     "We  fight  to  be  the 


DMITRY  MEREZHKOFSKY    121 

rulers  of  the  world," — and  they  act  accord- 
ingly. We  say:  "We  fight  for  universal 
peace,  for  the  emancipation  of  the  world,"  but 
we  do  not  act  accordingly. 

Let  us  begin  then  with  the  liberation  of  the 
Jews  at  home.  Let  the  oppressed  nations 
in  our  land  bear  in  mind,  however,  that  only  a 
free  Russian  people  will  be  able  to  give  them 
freedom. 

Let  the  Jews  remember  that  the  Jewish 
question  is  a  Russian  question. 


CONCERNING  THE  IDEOLOGY  OF 
THE  JEWISH  QUESTION 


Vyacheslav  Invanovich  Ivanov  was  born  in 
1866.  A  poet  of  great  mastery  and  a  refined 
critic,  his  thought,  is  steeped  in  hellenism  and 
in  the  most  abstruse  mystic  lore. 


CONCERNING  THE  IDEOLOGY  OF 
THE  JEWISH  QUESTION 

BY  VYACHESLAV  IVANOV 

ONE  of  the  wiliest  and  the  most  harmful 
doctrines  of  our  times  is,  I  believe,  the 
fashionable  ideology  of  spiritual  anti- 
Semitism.  It  attributes  to  Aryanism,  which 
by  the  way,  is  a  quantity  ethnically  if  not 
linguistically  enigmatical,  many  excellent  and 
splendid  qualities,  while  in  the  Semitic  in- 
fluences and  admixtures  to  the  Aryan  element 
it  sees  nothing  but  negative  energies,  which 
have  always  hindered  the  free  unfolding  of  the 
creative  powers  of  the  Aryan  genius. 

This  doctrine  would  deprive  Hellenism  of 
Aphrodite,  who  came  to  the  Hellenes  from  the 
Semites,  and  would  cut  the  main  and  most  pro- 
found root  of  Christianity,  namely  its  faith  in  a 
"transcendental,"  or,  plainly,  living  God. 
Spiritual  anti-Semitism  cuts  the  body  of  Chris- 
tianity into  two  halves,  and  keeps  only  that  half 

125 


126     CONCERNING  IDEOLOGY 

whose  forms  are  justified  by  analogies  bor- 
rowed from  the  Greek  religious  thought,  justi- 
fied, in  the  eyes  of  learned  dodgers  who  choose 
to  play  the  part  of  Romanticists  of  Aryanism. 

This  anti-religious  and  secretly  anti- Chris- 
tian theory,  one  of  the  Trojan  wooden  horses 
made  in  Germany,  was  clearly  intended  to 
"Indo-Germanize"  the  world,  when  suddenly 
the  twilight  of  the  Gods  swooped  down  upon 
the  Berlin  Valhalla.  Nevertheless  it  has  suc- 
ceeded in  seducing  many  minds,  obscured  by 
prejudices.  It  was  hailed  by  "immanent" 
philosophers  and  anti-Semites  out  of  political 
considerations  and  psychological  predisposi- 
tions, as  well  as  by  Christians  mindless  of  their 
kin,  by  anti-church  people  of  all  kinds,  and 
even  by  atheists  of  Jewish  birth,  who  are 
ashamed  of  their  kin  and  who  are  in  the  world 
like  salt  which  has  lost  its  strength. 

The  more  vivid  and  profound  the  church 
consciousness  is  in  a  Christian,  the  more  vividly 
and  profoundly  does  he  feel  himself,  I  shall 
not  say  a  philo- Semite,  but  truly  a  Semite  in 
spirit.  We  have  so  thoroughly  confused,  dis- 
torted and  forgotten  all  the  holy  and  true 
traditions,  we  have  so  thoroughly  lost  the  habit 


VYACHESLAV  IVANOV        127 

of  applying  our  reason  to  the  lucid,  old  truths 
learned  by  heart,  that  this  statement  may 
sound  like  a  paradox. 

Vladimir  Solovyov's  touching  affection  for 
Judaism  is  a  plain  and  natural  manifestation  of 
his  love  for  Christ  and  of  his  inner  experience 
of  being  merged  in  the  Church.  The  body  of 
the  Church  is  for  the  mystic  the  true,  although 
invisible  body  of  Christ,  and  through  Christ  it 
is  the  body  begotten  of  Abraham's  seed.  The 
latter  body,  like  the  curtain  of  the  temple  in 
Jerusalem  in  the  hour  of  our  Saviour's  death, 
was  rent  in  twain,  and  that  half  of  it  which  is 
Judaism  passionately  seeks  the  whole,  longs 
and  yearns,  and  pours  out  its  wrath  upon  the 
second  half,  which  in  its  turn  longs  for  the 
reunion  and  the  integrity  of  mystic  Israel. 

Whoever  is  within  the  Church  loves  Mary; 
and  whoever  loves  Mary  loves  also  Israel  whose 
name  together  with  those  of  the  patriarchs  and 
prophets  solemnly  resounds  in  our  liturgical 
hymns.  The  minds  of  those  who  in  various 
times  represented  the  earthly  organisation  of 
the  Church  could  be  poisoned  by  hatred  of  the 
Jews,  in  whom  they  suspected  Christ's  enemies, 
precisely  because  it  seemed  to  them  that  the 


128     CONCERNING  IDEOLOGY 

Jewish  nation  was  already  void  of  the  true 
Jewish  spirit  and  was  not  of  Abraham's  seed. 
But  what  do  all  these  errings  mean  in  face  of 
the  single  testimony  of  the  apostle  Paul? 

I  have  placed  myself,  in  these  lines,  on  the 
standpoint  of  religious  thought,  and  I  wish  to 
remind  people  of  the  truth  that  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian means  to  be  not  a  heathen,  not  simply  an 
Aryan  by  blood,  but  to  become  through 
baptism,  which  sacramentally  includes  also 
circumcision,  a  child  of  Abraham,  and,  there- 
fore, in  a  sacramental  sense  a  brother  to  Abra- 
ham's descendants,  who,  according  to  the  word 
of  the  apostle,  are  not  deprived  of  inheritance, 
and  whom,  according  to  Christ's  word,  we  must 
bless  even  if  they  curse  us.  Personally,  I  do 
not  believe  that  the  Jews  hate  Christ,  unless  it 
be  that  they  hate  Him  in  spite  of  their  secret, 
presensuous  love  for  Him,  hate  Him  with  that 
pecular  hatred  which  comes  from  jealousy  and 
which  the  Hellenes  defined  as  the  negative 
hypostase  of  Eros,  as  anti-Eros. 

I  think  that  Providence  has  appointed  the 
Jews  eternally  to  test  the  Christian  peoples  in 
their  love  for  Christ  and  in  their  faithfulness  to 
Him.  And  when  His  work  will  be  consum- 


VY ACHE  SLAV  IVANOV        129 

mated  in  us,  then  their  demands  and  expecta- 
tions will  be  fulfilled  and  they  will  be  convinced 
that  they  need  not  wait  for  another  Messiah. 
As  for  us,  if  we  were  walking  with  Christ,  we 
would  not  fear  our  examiners:  for  love  con- 
quers fear. 

The  accounts  the  Russian  soul  has  to  settle 
with  that  of  the  Jew  are  complex.  In  spite  of 
the  fact  they  have  frequently  and  most  com- 
pletely been  united  in  suffering,  the  Jew  is 
loath  to  love  that  which  is  most  sacred  to  the 
Russian  soul.  For  the  benefit  of  those  in  whom 
resound  the  separate  clashing  voices  of  this 
spiritual  dispute,  I  shall  quote  in  conclusion 
this  final  and  irrevocable  verdict  of  Dostoyev- 
sky,  who  had  the  reputation  of  being  an  anti- 
Semite: 

"All  that  is  demanded  by  humanity,  justice 
and  Christian  law,  must  be  done  for  the  Jews. 
I  shall  add  to  these  words  that  in  spite  of 
the  considerations  exposed  above,  I  definitely 
stand  for  an  increase  of  the  Jewish  rights  in 
formal  legislation  and,  if  possible,  for  the  re- 
moval of  all  the  legal  disabilities  which  stand 
in  the  way  of  their  equality  with  the  rest  of 
the  population  (although  in  some  cases  they 


130     CONCERNING  IDEOLOGY 

have  already  more  rights  than  the  aboriginal 
population,  or,  better,  they  have  greater  possi- 
bilities to  utilise  the  rights  which  they  enjoy) ." 
("A  Writer's  Journal,"  March,  1877,  III, 
p.  4.) 


THE  LITTLE  BOY 


THE  LITTLE  BOY 

(A  STORY) 
BY  MAXIM  GORKY 

IT  is  hard  to  tell  this  little  story, — it  is  so 
simple.    When  I  was  a  youth,  I  used 
to  gather  the  children  of  our  street  on 
Sunday  mornings  during  the  spring  and  sum- 
mer seasons  and  take  them  with  me  to  the  fields 
and  woods.     I   took  great  pleasure   in  the 
friendship  of  these  little  people,  who  were  as 
gay  as  birds. 

The  children  were  only  too  glad  to  leave  the 
dusty,  narrow  streets  of  the  city.  Their 
mothers  provided  them  with  slices  of  bread, 
while  I  bought  them  dainties  and  filled  a  big 
bottle  with  cider,  and  like  a  shepherd,  walked 
behind  my  carefree  little  lambs,  while  we 
passed  through  the  town  and  the  fields  on  our 
way  to  the  green  forest,  beautiful  and  caress- 
ing in  its  array  of  Spring. 

We  always  started  on  our  journey  early  in 

133 


134  THE  LITTLE  EOT 

the  morning  when  the  church  bells  were  usher- 
ing in  the  early  mass,  and  we  were  accom- 
panied by  the  chimes  and  the  clouds  of  dust 
raised  by  the  children's  nimble  feet. 

In  the  heat  of  noon,  exhausted  with  playing, 
my  companions  would  gather  at  the  edge  of 
the  forest,  and  after  that,  having  eaten  their 
food,  the  smaller  children  would  lie  down  and 
sleep  in  the  shade  of  hazel  and  snow-ball  trees, 
while  the  ten-year-old  boys  would  flock  around 
me  and  ask  me  to  tell  them  stories.  I  would 
satisfy  their  desire,  chattering  as  eagerly  as 
the  children  themselves,  and  often,  in  spite  of 
the  self-assurance  of  youth  and  the  ridiculous 
pride  which  it  takes  in  the  miserable  crumbs 
of  worldly  wisdom  it  possesses,  I  would  feel 
like  a  twenty-year-old  child  in  a  conclave  of 
sages. 

Overhead  is  the  blue  veil  of  the  spring  sky, 
and  before  us  lies  the  deep  forest,  brooding  in 
wise  silence.  Now  and  then  the  wind  whispers 
gently  and  stirs  the  fragrant  shadows  of  the 
forest,  and  again  does  the  soothing  silence 
caress  us  with  a  motherly  caress.  White 
clouds  are  sailing  slowly  across  the  azure 
heavens.  Viewed  from  the  earth,  heated  by 


MAXIM  GORKY 135 

the  sun,  the  sky  appears  cold,  and  it  is  strange 
to  see  the  clouds  melt  away  in  the  blue.  And 
all  around  me — little  people,  dear  little  people, 
destined  to  partake  of  all  the  sorrows  and  all 
the  joys  of  life. 

These  were  my  happy  days,  my  true  holi- 
days, and  my  soul  already  dusty  with  the 
knowledge  of  life's  evil  was  bathed  and  re- 
freshed in  the  clear-eyed  wisdom  of  child-like 
thoughts  and  feelings. 

Once,  when  I  was  coming  out  of  the  city  on 
my  way  to  the  fields,  accompanied  by  a  crowd 
of  children  we  met  an  unknown  little  Jewish 
boy.  He  was  barefooted  and  his  shirt  was 
torn;  his  eyebrows  were  black,  his  body  slim 
and  his  hair  grew  in  curls  like  that  of  a  little 
sheep.  He  was  excited  and  he  seemed  to  have 
been  crying.  The  lids  of  his  dull-black  eyes, 
swollen  and  red,  contrasted  with  his  face, 
which,  emaciated  by  starvation,  was  ghastly 
pale. 

Having  found  himself  face  to  face  with  the 
crowd  of  children,  he  stood  still  in  the  middle 
of  the  road,  burrowing  his  bare  feet  in  the  dust, 
which  early  in  the  morning  is  so  deliciously 
cool.  In  fear,  he  half  opened  the  dark  lips  of 


136  THE  LITTLE  BOY 

his  fair  mouth, — the  next  second  he  leaped 
right  on  to  the  sidewalk. 

"Catch  him!"  the  children  started  to  shout 
gaily  and  in  a  chorus.  "A  Jewish  boy! 
Catch  the  Jew  boy!" 

I  waited,  thinking  that  he  would  run  away. 
His  thin,  big-eyed  face  was  all  fear;  his  lips 
quivered;  he  stood  there  amid  the  shouts  and 
the  mocking  laughter.  Pressing  his  shoulders 
against  the  fence  and  hiding  his  hands  behind 
his  back,  he  stretched  and  strangely  appeared 
to  have  grown  bigger. 

But  suddenly  he  spoke, — very  calmly  and 
in  a  distinct  and  correct  Russian. 

"If  you  wish, — I  will  show  you  some  tricks." 

I  took  this  offer  for  a  means  of  self-defence. 
But  the  children  at  once  became  interested. 
The  larger  and  coarser  boys  alone  looked  with 
distrust  and  suspicion  on  the  little  Jewish  boy. 
The  children  of  our  street  were  in  a  state  of 
guerilla  warfare  with  the  children  of  other 
streets;  in  addition,  they  were  deeply  con- 
vinced of  their  own  superiority  and  were  loath 
to  brook  the  rivalry  of  other  children. 

The  smaller  boys  approached  the  matter 
more  simply. 


MAXIM  GORKY 137 

"Come  on,  show  us,"  they  shouted. 

The  handsome,  slim  boy  moved  away  from 
the  fence,  bent  his  thin  body  backward,  and 
touching  the  ground  with  his  hands,  he  tossed 
up  his  feet  and  remained  standing  on  his  arms, 
shouting: 

"Hop!    Hop!    Hop!" 

Then  he  began  to  spin  in  the  air,  swinging 
his  body  lightly  and  adroitly.  Through  the 
holes  of  his  shirt  and  pants  we  caught  glimpses 
of  the  greyish  skin  of  his  slim  body,  of  his 
sharply  bulging  and  angular  shoulder-blades, 
knees  and  elbows.  It  seemed  to  us  as  if  with 
one  more  twist  of  his  body  his  thin  bones  would 
crack  and  break  into  pieces. 

He  worked  hard  until  the  shirt  grew  wet 
with  sweat  about  his  shoulders.  After  each 
especially  daring  feat  he  looked  into  the  chil- 
dren's faces  with  an  artificial,  weary  smile,  and 
it  was  unpleasant  to  see  his  dull  eyes,  grown 
large  with  pain.  Their  strange  and  unsteady 
glance  was  not  like  that  of  a  child. 

The  lads  encouraged  him  with  loud  out- 
cries. Many  imitated  him,  rolling  in  the  dust 
and  shouting  for  joy,  pain  and  envy.  But 
the  joyous  minutes  were  soon  over  when  the 


138  THE  LITTLE  BOY 

boy,  bringing  his  exhibition  to  an  end,  looked 
upon  the  children  with  the  benevolent  smile  of 
a  thoroughbred  artist  and  stretching  forth  his 
hand  said : 

"Now  give  me  something." 

We  all  became  silent,  until  one  of  the 
children  said: 

"Money?" 

"Yes,"  said  the  lad. 

"Look  at  him,"  said  the  children. 

"  For  money,  we  could  do  those  tricks  our- 
selves." 

The  audience  became  hostile  toward  the 
artist,  and  betook  itself  to  the  field,  ridiculing 
and  insulting  him.  Of  course,  none  of  them 
had  any  money.  I  myself,  had  only  seven 
kopecks  about  me.  I  put  two  coins  in  the 
boy's  dusty  palm.  He  moved  them  with  his 
finger  and  with  a  kindly  smile  said:  "Thank 
you." 

He  went  away,  and  I  noticed  that  his  shirt 
around  his  back  was  all  in  black  blotches  and 
was  clinging  close  to  his  shoulder-blades. 

"Hold  on,  what  is  it?" 

He  stopped,  turned  about,  scrutinised  me 
and  said  distinctly,  with  the  same  kindly  smile : 


MAXIM  GORKY 139 

"You  mean  the  blotches  on  my  back? 
That's  from  falling  off  the  trapeze.  It  hap- 
pened on  Easter.  My  father  is  still  lying  in 
bed,  but  I  am  quite  well  now." 

I  lifted  his  shirt.  On  his  back,  running 
down  from  his  left  shoulder  to  the  side,  was  a 
wide  dark  scratch  which  had  now  become  dried 
up  into  a  thick  crust.  While  he  was  exhibit- 
ing his  tricks  the  wound  broke  open  in  several 
spots  and  red  blood  was  now  trickling  from  the 
openings. 

"It  doesn't  hurt  any  more,"  said  he  with  a 
smile.  "It  doesn't  hurt,  it  only  itches." 

And  bravely,  as  it  becomes  a  hero,  he  looked 
in  my  eyes  and  went  on,  speaking  like  a  serious 
grown-up  person: 

"You  think — I  have  been  doing  this  for  my- 
self? Upon  my  word — I  have  not.  My 
father  .  .  .  there  is  not  a  crust  of  bread  in 
the  house,  and  my  father  is  lying  badly  hurt. 
So  you  see,  I  have  to  work  hard.  And  to 
make  matters  worse,  we  are  Jews,  and  every- 
body laughs  at  us.  Good-bye." 

He  spoke  with  a  smile,  cheerfully  and 
courageously.  With  a  nod  of  his  curly  head, 
he  quickly  went  on,  passing  by  the  houses 


140  THE  LITTLE  BOY 

which  looked  at  him  with  their  glass  eyes,  in- 
different and  dead. 

All  this  is  insignificant  and  simple,  is  it  not? 

Yet  many  a  time  in  the  darkest  days  of  my 
life  I  remembered  with  gratitude  the  courage 
and  bravery  of  the  little  Jewish  boy.  And 
now,  in  these  sorrowful  days  of  suffering  and 
bloody  outrages  which  fall  upon  the  grey 
head  of  the  ancient  nation,  the  creator  of  Gods 
and  religion, — I  think  again  of  the  boy,  for  in 
him  I  see  the  symbol  of  true  manly  bravery, 
— not  the  pliant  patience  of  slaves,  who  live 
by  uncertain  hopes,  but  the  courage  of  the 
strong  who  are  certain  of  their  victory. 


THE  FATHERLAND  FOR  ALL 


Fyodor  Sologub  is  the  pseudonym  of  Fyo- 
dor  Kuzmich  Teternikov,  novelist  and  poet, 
A  considerable  portion  of  Ms  prose  works  has 
been  recently  made  accessible  to  the  English 
reader.  Sologub's  poetic  output  includes 
lyrical  pieces  of  rare  beauty.  He  was  born  in 
1864. 


THE  FATHERLAND  FOR  ALL 

BY  FYODOR  SOLOGUB 

THE  great  war,  which  we  did  not  want, 
but  which  we  are  conducting  with 
intense  fervour,  exerting  all  our  spirit- 
ual and  material  forces,  has  put  before  our 
consciousness  and  our  moral  sense  the  funda- 
mental problems  of  our  social  and  political 
organisation.  Not  in  vain  have  the  news- 
papers hastened  to  style  this  war  a  Fatherland 
War.  The  question  of  the  Fatherland  has 
suddenly  acquired  for  us  a  peculiar  keenness 
and  significance. 

The  war  has  taken  Russian  society  and  the 
Russian  people  by  surprise,  but  luckily  it  has 
come  to  us  at  the  moment  when  the  questions 
which  were  confronting  us  had  already  been 
settled  both  in  our  reason  and  conscience. 
The  heroic  labour  of  the  Russian  intellectual 
has  not  been  in  vain.  And  now  what  we  have 
to  do  is  not  to  argue  and  demonstrate,  but  to 

143 


144     THE  FATHERLAND  FOR  ALL 

determine  the  meaning  of  events.  And  the 
meaning  of  what  is  going  on  is  such  that  we 
are  forced  to  consider  this  war  not  only  as  one 
of  defence,  but  also  as  one  of  emancipation. 
It  appears  to  us  not  only  as  a  struggle  for  the 
rights  of  small  states  threatened  by  large  ones, 
and  as  a  war  against  German  militarism,  but 
also  as  a  strife  against  .  .  -1  internal  danger, 
whatever  may  be  the  various  forms  this  danger 
assumes. 

The  first  and  chief  danger  which  threatened, 
and  is  still  threatening  us,  is  the  danger  of 
internal  division  and  disorder.  The  equal 
readiness  and  zeal  to  stand  up  for  her  which  all 
the  peoples  inhabiting  Russia  have  manifested 
has  shown  how  unjust  is  the  preaching  of 
hatred  and  of  narrow  nationalism.  The  peo- 
ples who  bear  the  same  burdens  of  our  state 
as  the  Russians  do,  who  defend  our  common 
fatherland  just  as  faithfully  as  the  Russians, 
thereby  assert  that  our  fatherland  is  for  all, 
that  Russia  is  for  every  one  who  is  considered 
a  Russian  subject  and  meets  his  duties  to- 
ward the  state.  Russia  is  not  only  for  those 

i  Several  words  here  are  crossed  out  by  Russian  censorship. 
—Translator's  Note. 


FYODOR  SOLOGUB  145 

who  are  Russians  by  language  and  birth,  she 
is  for  all  who  live  under  her  sovereign  domin- 
ion. No  one  in  Russia  is  benefited  by  the  un- 
equal rights  of  her  various  peoples;  this  in- 
equality does  not  add  to  our  political  power,  it 
only  supports  our  internal  disorder.  Its  abo- 
lition by  no  means  contradicts  the  fundamental 
conceptions  of  Russian  statehood. 

You  will  say  that  Russia  has  been  created 
by  the  Russian  race.  Well,  then,  her  policy 
must  be  determined  by  the  qualities  of  the 
Russian  popular  spirit, — but  animosity  and 
exclusiveness  are  things  strange  and  repulsive 
to  it.  The  soul  of  the  Russian  people  is  trust- 
ing and  open  to  all  influences.  And  this  is 
only  natural:  only  that  nation  can  become  the 
basis  of  a  great  state  which  is  able  with  ease 
and  joy  to  unite  with  all  the  races  it  meets  on 
its  historic  road.  The  history  of  Russia  illus- 
trates this.  Besides,  who  has  ever  asserted 
that  people  born  unto  the  Russian  tongue  are 
racially  pure  Slavs? 

You  will  say  that  Russia  is  a  Christian 
state.  Agreed.  But  do  not  Christ's  com- 
mandments teach  us  to  see  a  friend  and  a 
brother  and  one's  equal  in  every  man?  The 


146    THE  FATHERLAND  FOR  ALL 

more  we  are  Christians,  the  less  of  animosity 
and  exclusiveness  can  be  in  our  hearts.  What 
difference  does  it  make  that  two  men  speak 
different  languages  and  pray  in  different 
ways?  When  it  is  a  question  of  paying  du- 
ties and  taxes,  and  bearing  arms  in  defence  of 
the  fatherland,  religious  and  race  peculiarities 
do  not  matter. 

The  fatherland  is  for  all  of  us,  because  we 
are  all  for  the  fatherland.  The  fatherland  is 
our  common  home,  and  this  home  we  build, 
keep  in  good  order,  and  defend.  We  build 
our  common  home  not  like  hirelings,  to  whom, 
after  they  get  their  pay,  the  building  becomes 
alien.  In  rearing,  decorating  and  defending 
it  we  bargain  with  no  one,  we  give  everything 
that  is  necessary  for  its  upbuilding  and  de- 
fence,— we  give  our  property,  our  labour,  our 
very  life.  Even  when  our  labour  appears 
selfish,  even  then — provided  it  is  not  criminal 
— it  is  for  the  good  of  our  common  home :  for, 
all  that  adds  to  the  happiness,  well-being  and 
freedom  of  each  one  living  in  the  home,  adds 
to  its  strength  and  beauty. 

We  build  our  common  home,  decorate  it  and 
defend  it,  and  we  do  it  with  joy  and  willing- 


FYODOR  SOLOGUB  147 

ness  because  in  our  common  home  we  are 
neither  hirelings  nor  guests.  In  our  common 
home,  then,  who  are  we?  We  must  know  and 
always  remember  that  in  our  common  home 
we  are  all  masters  of  the  house.  It  is  not  our 
right,  but  our  duty  toward  our  home,  of  which 
we  must  take  care  just  as  every  good  master 
takes  care  of  his  house.  The  consciousness  of 
the  fact  that  we  are  the  masters  of  our  com- 
mon home  is  clear;  for  it  is  seen  that  every 
one  of  us  in  whom  conscience  and  reason  do 
not  slumber,  feels  responsible  for  the  disorder 
of  our  life. 

Not  an  outsider,  nor  a  congress  of  allies,  nor 
some  one  social  class  shall  regulate  our  affairs 
for  the  best  of  Poland,  Finland,  the  Jews  and 
the  rest.  Neither  our  allies,  nor  any  one  of 
our  social  classes,  nor  the  wisest  and  strongest 
among  us, — but  all  of  us  Russian  citizens,  all 
of  us  who  joyously  and  willingly  bear  the  bur- 
den of  statehood,  are  called  upon  to  settle  in 
conscience  and  reason,  the  fundamental  prob- 
lems of  our  great  home-building. 

In  the  face  of  the  common  foe  we  are  all 
united.  We  have  mustered  all  our  forces  for 


148    THE  FATHERLAND  FOB  ALL 

the  defence  of  our  native  land  from  the  hostile 
invasion.  We  are  all  brothers,  all  children  of 
one  fatherland,  and  to  all  Russia  is  a  good 
mother  loving  all  equally  well.  Many  are  the 
peoples  Russia  has  gathered  under  her  domin- 
ion and  she  is  to  all  equally  benevolent. 

How  eager  is  one  to  say  these  words,  to 
have  the  right  to  utter  them!  But  we  have  it 
not.  Not  toward  all  is  Russia  equally  benevo- 
lent, and  in  the  hour  of  great  trials  and  high 
deeds  she  is  still  unable,  still  unwilling,  to  tear 
asunder  the  fatal  chain,  the  terrible  "Pale  of 
Settlement." 

Whenever  I  met  Russian  Jews  abroad,  I 
always  marvelled  at  the  strangely  tenacious 
love  for  Russia  which  they  preserve.  They 
speak  of  Russia  with  the  same  longing  and 
the  same  tenderness  as  the  Russian  emigrants ; 
they  are  equally  eager  to  return  and  equally 
saddened  if  the  return  is  impossible.  Where- 
fore should  they  love  Russia,  who  is  so  harsh 
and  inhospitable  toward  them? 

Strange  as  it  may  sound,  there  are  children 
who  love  their  cruel  stepmothers.  Of  course, 
they  are  exceptions;  usually  such  stepmothers 
are  hated.  But  in  the  case  of  Jews  such  ex- 


FYODOR  SOLOGUB  149 

captions  become  the  general  rule:  the  Jews 
love  the  same  Russia  that  is  so  cruel  toward 
them. 

Some  one's  interests  demand  that  the  Jews 
should  be  oppressed,  stabled  in  the  "Pale  of 
Settlement,"  limited  in  the  right  to  education, 
and  in  other  respects.  But  to  whose  interest 
is  it?  Russia's?  Surely  not. 

Social  relations  in  Russia,  as  in  every  civi- 
lised state,  must  rest  on  the  immovable  founda- 
tions of  justice,  reason,  and  conscience.  All 
those  persons  who  are  united  by  the  fact  of 
their  belonging  to  the  Russian  state  must  have, 
within  the  limits  of  the  empire,  the  minimum 
of  rights,  which,  to  our  shame,  are  refused  the 
Jews.  This  minimum  each  one  of  us  receives 
not  for  his  personal  or  racial  deserts  or  dis- 
tinctive traits,  but  as  a  citizen  of  the  state. 
To  obey  the  common  Russian  laws,  to  pay  the 
established  taxes,  to  serve  in  the  army, — all 
these  are  the  duties  of  a  Russian  subject,  cor- 
responding to  the  amount  of  rights  of  which 
he  can  be  deprived  only  by  a  court  ruling  for 
a  crime. 

A  man  not  dishonoured  by  a  court  decision 
may  not  live  where  he  wants  to, — because  he 


150     THE  FATHERLAND  FOR  ALL 

is  a  Jew;  a  boy  who  has  not  been  dismissed 
from  any  school  for  deficiency  or  misconduct, 
may  not  enter  the  "gymnasium,"  where  there 
are  plenty  of  vacancies,  but  where  the  few 
vacancies  set  aside  by  a  percentage  rule  for 
the  Jewish  brats,  are  eagerly  filled  by  them; 
a  soldier's  wife  may  not  visit  her  wounded  and 
agonising  husband  because  he  happens  to  be 
dying  outside  the  "Pale";  the  deceased  may 
not  be  buried  in  the  town  where  he  died,  for 
he  had  no  right  of  residence  in  that  town, — 
what  does  all  this  mean?  Who  needs  all  this? 
All  these  people  are  Russian  subjects,  not 
our  enemies,  and  yet  they  are  treated  in  this 
fashion.  What  is  the  purpose  of  it  all?  Is 
it  in  order  to  kindle  among  the  Jews  the  fire 
of  implacable  hatred  of  Russia  and  turn  them 
into  our  enemies?  But  then  we  must  be  logi- 
cal and  not  tolerate  them  in  the  "Pale  of 
Settlement";  we  must  exile  or  destroy  them. 
But  a  civilised  state  will  never  persuade  itself 
to  commit  such  acts,  inhuman  though  logical. 
And  if  it  does  not  decide  to  do  that,  it  must, 
for  the  sake  of  its  safety  and  dignity,  grant 
to  every  Russian  citizen  the  elementary  hu- 
man rights.  It  is  imperative  that  every  Rus- 


FYODOR  SOLOGUB  151 

sian  citizen  should  have  every  reason  to  love 
Russia  and  no  right  to  hate  her.  If  that  por- 
tion of  the  Russian  population  which  is  de- 
prived of  rights  still  loves  Russia,  it  is  because 
the  people  of  purely  Russian  extraction  have 
no  hatred  for  people  of  non-Russian  birth,  and 
our  co-citizens  are  fully  aware  of  it.  They 
know  that  their  disabilities  are  a  burden  to  our- 
selves. 

The  removal  of  the  Jewish  disabilities  is 
most  imperatively  dictated  to  us  also  by  our 
dignity  as  a  body  politic.  The  name  of  Rus- 
sian subject  must  be  respected  within  our 
country,  for  otherwise  the  civilised  world  will 
not  grow  accustomed  to  respect  Russia.  Our 
country  is  feared  for  its  military  might  and 
loved  for  the  fine  qualities  of  its  people,  but 
it  will  be  respected  only  when  it  becomes  a 
land  of  free  men. 


ON  NATIONALISM 


Vladimir  Serggyevich  Solovyov  is  known  to 
the  world  as  the  noblest  and  the  most  profound 
of  Russian  thinkers.  The  author  of  a  large 
number  of  philosophical  and  theological  trea- 
tises, he  is  also  responsible  for  a  slender  volume 
of  exquisite  poems  and  a  series  of  publicistic 
works,  wherein  the  cause  of  progress  is  vigor- 
ously upheld.  Solovyov  was  born  in  1853  and 
died  in  1900. 


ON  NATIONALISM 

A  speech  delivered  by  Vladimir  Solovyov  at  a  University 
Dinner  on  February  8th,  1890 

THE  dominating  idea  of  the  present 
time  is  the  national  idea.  Of  course, 
there  is  nothing  bad  about  this.  But 
the  national  idea  as  well  as  any  other,  can  be 
very  differently  interpreted.  The  conception 
of  nationalism  which  is  very  popular  in  our 
country  reminds  one  of  the  famous  answer 
made  by  a  Hottentot  to  a  missionary,  who 
asked  him  whether  he  knows  the  difference 
between  good  and  bad.  "Sure  I  know," 
retorted  the  Hottentot.  "Good — is  when  I 
steal  other  people's  cattle  and  wives,  and  bad 
—when  my  own  are  stolen."  In  a  like  man- 
ner, many  of  our  nationalists  praise  the  love 
for  their  people  and  brand  other  people's 
patriotism  as  treason. 

In  spite  of  the  wide  diffusion  of  this  view,  I 
persist  in  my  belief  that  the  Russian  national 

155 


156  ON  NATIONALISM 

idea  cannot  be  based  on  a  Hottentot-like 
morality,  that  it  cannot  exclude  the  principles 
of  justice  and  all-human  solidarity.  It  is  time 
that  we  should  see  the  realisation  of  the  true 
Russian  idea  and  of  all  that  it  implies,  namely: 
Poland's  autonomy,  Jewish  equal  rights  and 
the  untrammelled  development  of  all  the 
nationalities  that  people  the  Russian  Empire. 


CONCERNING  THE  LEGAL 
STATUS  OF  THE  JEWS 


Count  Ivan  Ivanovich  Tolstoy,  born  in  1858, 
occupied  the  post  of  Minister  of  Public  In- 
struction at  the  time  of  Count  Witte's  pre- 
miership. In  1907  he  was  a  candidate  for  elec- 
tion to  the  Duma,  as  deputy  from  Petrograd. 
A  distinguished  archeologist  and  connoisseur 
of  art,  he  was  for  many  years  the  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  Imperial  Academy  of  Fine  Arts. 


CONCERNING  THE  LEGAL 
STATUS  OF  THE  JEWS 


m1 


BY  COUNT  IVAN  TOLSTOY 

*  'JTr^HEREFORE  all  things  whatsoever 
ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you, 
do  ye  even  so  to  them."  (St.  Mat- 
thew, 7,  12.)  This  is  the  divine  law,  which  it 
is  the  task  of  every  one  who  considers  and  feels 
himself  a  Christian  to  follow,  and  which 
should  also  be  strictly  observed  by  a  State. 
Now,  would  any  one  of  the  Christians  who 
owe  their  allegiance  to  the  Russian  state  con- 
sent to  be  treated  as  the  Jews  are  in  Russia? 
Would  he  like  to  be  confined  within  a  certain 
definite  zone  of  settlement,  to  be  kept  from 
giving  his  children  an  education,  and  to  find 
himself  excluded  from  many  fields  of  honest 
and  honourable  endeavour?  Would  he  like, 
all  through  his  life  to  be  humiliated  before  his 
co-citizens  of  other  faith  and  birth? 

159 


160    LEGAL  STATUS  OF  JEWS 

You  despise  them,  hate  them,  and  accuse 
them  of  all  that  it  may  please  any  maniac  or 
liar  to  invent  about  them.  Yet  you  demand  of 
the  Jews  that  they  should  help  you,  when  you 
stand  in  need  of  help.  You,  Jew-haters, 
serve  somebody  or  something,  but  truly  it  is 
not  God,  it  is  not  the  cause  of  goodness  that 
you  are  serving.  In  your  blindness  you  harm, 
above  all,  yourself  and  our  country,  our  dear, 
long-suffering  Russia,  whom  the  Jews,  your 
co-citizens,  love  and  cannot  help  loving  more 
than  you  do.  They  know  that  Russia  hates 
none  of  her  faithful  and  loving  children  and 
that  they  are  hated  only  by  people,  who,  either 
by  nature  or  because  of  a  poor  education,  can- 
not exist  without  hating  some  one  or  some- 
thing. By  their  deeds  ye  shall  know  them, 
these  wolves  disguised  as  sheep. 

Combat  evil  and  side  with  good,  do  good, 
and  do  not  judge  a  man  by  the  fact  that  his 
parents  are  Jewish  or  Christian,  or  that  he 
was  born  into  one  faith  or  another.  Remem- 
ber that  we  are  all  born  equally  naked  and  that 
we  must  all  die.  Therefore,  do  not  boast  of 
your  birth;  bear  firmly  in  mind  that  we  are  all 


COUNT  IVAN  TOLSTOY       161 

equal  before  God,  before  Truth  and  that  we 
must  be  equal  before  the  Law. 

As  for  the  legal  disabilities  of  a  portion  of 
citizens  who  are  guilty  of  no  crime, — such  as 
injustice  must  be  completely  condemned.  In 
practice,  such  a  policy  has  always  borne  and 
always  will  bear  fruits  of  evil.  The  very  ex- 
istence of  such  an  injustice  corrupts  and  puts 
in  jeopardy  the  social  body  which  tolerates 
it.  ...  No  benefits  which  may  be  derived  by 
individual  persons  or  social  classes  from  an 
inequality  of  rights  can  justify  the  State  in 
depriving  a  group  of  citizens  of  their  full 
rights,  as  a  result  of  their  race  and  faith. 
This  is  the  A-B-C  of  justice,  and  those  who 
do  not  know  it  have  yet  to  learn  what  justice 
is. 

Neither  are  the  Jews  better  than  we  are, 
nor  are  we  better  than  they.  We  are  all  hu- 
man beings  and,  as  such,  we  must  all  be  equal 
before  the  impartial  and  dispassionate  Law, 
which  determines  our  rights  and  duties  to- 
wards the  State  and  society.  Good  and  bad 
people,  I  repeat,  are  everywhere,  and  the  pro- 
portion is  roughly  the  same  among  us  as 


162    LEGAL  STATUS  OF  JEWS 

among  them.  Let  us,  therefore,  strive  for  the 
realisation  of  justice  on  earth,  and  let  us  be- 
lieve in  the  final  triumph  of  truth.  The  rest 
will  be  added  unto  us.  Without  such  a  faith 
it  is  hard  to  live. 


THE  WOUNDED  SOLDIER 


THE  WOUNDED  SOLDIER 

BY  LEONID  ANDREYEV 

A  SAD  and  disquieting  image  often 
rises  before  my  eyes. 
It  happened  in  Petrograd,  on  the 
staircase  of  a  large,  new  building,  one  apart- 
ment of  which  was  transformed  into  a  private 
ward.  When  I  entered  the  porter's  lodge,  on 
my  way  to  a  friend,  I  saw  that  it  was  filled 
with  wounded  soldiers,  who  had  just  arrived, 
while  curious  spectators  crowded  near  the 
plate-glass  door.  The  house  was  new  and 
luxuriously  furnished,  and  the  elevator  on 
which  the  wounded  soldiers  were  taken  up, 
was  carefully  covered  with  some  kind  of  cloth, 
for  fear  that  the  velvet  would  be  soiled  and  the 
insects  would  get  into  the  seams.  Upstairs 
the  wounded  were  cordially  greeted  by  a  priest 
and  a  man  dressed  in  white.  After  having 
kissed  the  priest's  hand,  the  wounded,  evi- 
dently embarrassed  by  the  bright  light  and  the 

165 


166     THE  WOUNDED  SOLDIER 

luxury  of  the  place,  entered  the  ward  awk- 
wardly and  silently.  There  were  no  seriously 
wounded  on  stretchers  among  them,  all  were 
able  to  walk;  yet  it  was  painful  to  look  at 
them. 

There  was  a  wounded  soldier  in  one  of  the 
last  groups  taken  up  by  the  elevator  who 
strangely  attracted  everybody's  attention. 
He  was  a  short,  young,  lean,  ghastly  pale  Jew. 
All  the  wounded  were  pale,  but  there  was 
something  sinister  about  the  pallor  of  his  face; 
it  was  a  paleness  of  an  utterly  exhausted, 
anaemic  or  fatally  sick  man.  He  was  walking 
alone,  feebly  moving  his  feet,  and  like  every- 
body else  bent  to  kiss  the  hand  of  the  priest, 
but  he  hardly  knew  what  he  was  doing,  and  his 
kiss  was  strangely  indifferent  and  meaning- 
less. He  was  evidently  wounded  in  his  arm, 
which  he  held  stretched  out.  Several  fingers 
were  wrapped  up,  the  others,  which  were  not 
injured,  were  covered  with  a  crust  of  dirt  and 
blood.  But  on  his  coat,  on  the  back,  there  was 
a  large  brown  blotch  of  blood,  a  very  large  one, 
covering  almost  half  of  his  back  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  soft  cloth  it  bulged  stiffly  as  if 
starched.  And  this  horrible  spot  told  the 


LEONID  ANDREYEV          167 

simple  story  of  the  battle  and  the  wound. 
But  it  was  not  the  stain  that  made  him  so 
peculiarly  conspicuous — other  soldiers  had 
similar  blotches — it  was  rather  his  unusual 
pallor,  thinness  and  smallness,  and,  above  all, 
an  expression  of  peculiar  timidity,  as  if  he  was 
not  at  all  sure  whether  his  behaviour  was  ap- 
propriate and  whether  he  had  come  to  the  right 
place.  The  faces  of  the  other  wounded 
soldiers,  non-Jews,  expressed  nothing  of  the 
kind.  These  men  were  confused,  but  not 
afraid,  and  walked  straight  ahead,  into  the 
ward. 

And  then  I  recollected  how  a  military  san- 
itarian, whose  duty  it  is  to  escort  a  train  of 
wounded  soldiers,  had  told  me  that  the 
wounded  Jews  actually  try  not  to  moan.  It 
was  hardly  credible,  and  at  first  I  did  not 
believe  it;  how  was  it  possible,  that  a  wounded 
soldier,  freshly  picked  up  from  the  battlefield 
and  lying  among  wounded  soldiers  should  try 
not  to  moan,  as  all  do?  But  the  sanitarian 
confirmed  his  statement  and  added:  they  are 
afraid  to  attract  attention  to  themselves. 

The  Jewish  soldier  entered  the  ward  after 
the  others,  and  the  door  was  closed,  but  his 


168     THE  WOUNDED  SOLDIER 

image,  sorrowful  and  disquieting,  lingered 
before  my  eyes.  Of  course,  he,  too,  tried  not 
to  attract  attention — and  therein  is  the  cause 
of  his  shyness;  and  when  his  wound  will  be 
dressed  and  he  will  be  put  into  bed,  he  will  also 
try  not  to  moan.  For,  what  right  has  he  to 
moan  aloud? 

It  is  very  possible,  that  he  has  no  right  of 
settlement  in  Petrograd  and  is  allowed  to  stay 
there  only  as  one  of  the  wounded;  a  rather 
precarious  right !  And  that  which  is  home  for 
others  is  nothing  but  a  kind  of  honourable  im- 
prisonment for  him ;  he  will  be  kept  for  a  while, 
then  they  will  let  him  go,  saying:  "Go  away, 
you  must  not  be  here." 

And  what  if  his  mother,  or  sister,  or  father, 
who  also  have  no  right  of  settlement,  will 
desire  to  come  to  him  and  kiss  his  bloodstained 
hand  which  has  defended  Russia — vague,  dis- 
tant Russia?  But  these  reflections  and 
questions  came  to  my  mind  later.  At  the 
moment,  I  beheld,  with  the  eyes  of  a  peaceful 
citizen,  the  bloody,  hardened  blotch  and  the 
dreadful  pallor  of  war,  and  the  needless  terror 
before  that  which,  after  all,  is  your  own,  and  I 
felt  an  overwhelming  depression  and  sadness. 


HOW  TO  HELP? 


Catherine  Kuskova  is  a  journalist  and  so- 
cial worker  of  considerable  note. 


HOW  TO  HELP? 

BY  CATHERINE  KUSKOVA 

LORD,   what  a   familiar   sight!    How 
many  times  have  we  seen  it  during  the 
last   nine   or   ten   months.  .  .  .  And 
every  time  you  blush  with  shame  and  you  have 
the  feeling  of  being  overcome  and  petrified  in 
the  face  of  the  incomprehensible,  elemental 
catastrophe. 

The  train  slowly  pulls  up  to  the  high 
structure  of  the  station.  The  scene  is  laid  in 
one  of  the  towns  of  the  Western  section. 
Faces  of  passengers,  restless,  way-worn,  sickly, 
are  seen  in  the  windows.  The  cars  are  over- 
crowded beyond  all  measure.  There  are  many 
black-eyed  children,  with  curly  black  locks,  and 
also  old  people,  decrepit  with  age.  The  rail- 
way platform  is  crowded  with  Jewish  youths, 
with  representatives  of  the  Jewish  community, 
and  a  mass  of  curious  people  who  eagerly  scan 
the  newcomers.  A  large  crowd  of  passengers 
emerge  from  the  cars  rapidly  and  in  disorder. 

171 


172 HOW  TO  HELP? 

They  are  Jews  deported  from  the  zone  of 
military  operations.  The  local  Jewish  com- 
munity had  been  notified  by  a  telegram  and 
now  they  are  meeting  the  newcomers. 

The  community  has  seen  to  it  that  hot  tea, 
bread,  and  milk  for  the  children  is  served  to 
the  deported  right  at  the  station.  A  most 
timely  measure!  Many  of  them  had  had  no 
time  even  to  take  food  along;  they  were 
deported  on  short  notice,  and,  besides,  a  family 
is  allowed  to  carry  no  more  than  forty  pounds 
of  luggage.  What  is  forty  pounds  for  a 
family  often  very  large?  They  can  hardly 
afford  to  take  some  underwear  and  warm 
clothes.  .  .  .  Behind  each  family  there  re- 
mained a  home,  probably  a  store,  a  stand,  a 
workshop  or  simply  a  sewing-machine,  the 
sole  source  of  income.  .  .  .  All  are  equal  now 
in  this  dreadful  train,  which  carries  them  away 
from  home,  naked  wrecks  of  humanity,  torn 
from  their  customary  course  of  life  and  de- 
prived of  the  daily  toil,  which  fed  the  family. 
And  what  a  terror  it  is  to  look  into  their  eyes. 
It  is  plainly  written  in  them :  "This  is  nothing, 
the  worst  is  still  to  come." 

They  sat  down  on  the  benches  in  the  waiting 


CATHERINE  KUSKOFA        173 

room,  and  started  drinking  tea,  and  eating. 
"Well,  you  are  feeding  your  spies,  eh?"  sud- 
denly remarks  a  porter,  addressing  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  Jewish  community.  The 
latter  grows  pale,  shivers,  and  quickly  moves 
away.  What,  indeed,  could  one  answer? 
How  does  this  great  migration  of  a  people 
impress  an  unsophisticated  brain?  If  the 
entire  population  leaves  a  district  the  matter 
is  clear;  the  place  must  be  evacuated  before  the 
enemy.  But  the  trains  loaded  with  Jews  do 
not  come  from  districts  already  occupied  by 
the  foe.  How  else  can  a  plain  man  construe 
this  fact  than  that  the  Jews  are  spies,  danger- 
ous people,  in  short,  our  internal  enemy?  And 
so  this  one-year-old  baby  whose  puff  ed-up,  tiny 
hand  hangs  down  from  its  mother's  shoulder  is 
also  an  enemy,  just  as  is  this  sad  girl  wearily 
skulking  in  a  corner,  and  this  old  man  with  his 
shaking  head  and  wrinkled  hands, — all  these 
are  our  enemies,  otherwise  why  should  they 
have  been  deported  before  the  arrival  of  the 
foe?  Why  such  a  peculiar  selection  of  the 
passengers  of  the  dreadful  trains?  I  go  from 
one  porter  to  another,  asking  them  who  was 
brought  on.  The  answer  is  the  same :  "Jews, 


174 HOW  TO  HELP? 

spies.  .  .  ."  The  very  arrival  of  such  a  train 
engenders  an  ill  feeling  toward  the  entire 
Jewish  nation, — and  how  many  such  trains 
have  arrived  here  lately!  And  if  you  were  to 
stop  and  ask  who  established  the  guilt  of  these 
people,  and  whether  it  is  thinkable  that  all 
these  tens  of  thousands  of  men,  women,  and 
children  should  have  been  caught  red-handed, 
no  one  will  stop  to  listen  to  you.  A  Jew  is  a 
spy, — this  is  the  only  impression  that  becomes 
indelibly  branded  in  the  brains  of  the  Russian 
population  which  witnesses  the  new  tragedy  of 
the  Jewish  nation.  The  effect  of  the  passage 
of  these  trains  is  truly  terrible,  it  is  a  series  of 
systematic  object-lessons  of  hatred.  .  .  . 

When  the  crowd  has  quenched  its  hunger 
and  thirst,  a  new  problem  presents  itself:  how 
to  transport  all  this  mass  to  the  town  and  give 
them  shelter.  For  this  purpose  a  number  of 
carriages  are  kept  in  readiness.  The  coach- 
men, all  of  them  Jews,  load  the  miserable  lug- 
gage and  try  to  accommodate  the  old,  the  sick, 
and  the  children.  Now  and  then  a  bearded, 
husky  driver  would  wipe  away  a  tear;  to  one 
side,  Jewish  women  weep  frankly.  The  sor- 
rowful procession  sets  out  for  the  town. 


CATHERINE  KUSKOVA        175 

There  the  refugees  will  once  more  have  to  meet 
the  Russians  and  endure  questionings,  insult- 
ing remarks  and  slaps  in  the  face.  .  .  .  Will 
the  Jewish  nation  stand  all  this? 

Yes,  it  will  undoubtedly  stand  this  frightful 
trial.  There  is  something  in  its  inner  nature 
that  enables  it  to  hold  out  under  the  most  ter- 
rible conditions. 

At  the  house  of  a  representative  of  the  Jew- 
ish community,  I  find  several  people  who 
handle  the  transportation  and  distribution  of 
the  deported  Jews. 

"How  many  people  have  passed  through 
your  hands?" 

"Several  thousand.  We  get  word  by  tele- 
graph from  the  centres  of  deportation  as  to 
how  many  people  we  should  keep  and  how 
many  send  further." 

"Where  do  you  get  the  means  necessary  for 
these  operations?" 

"The  entire  Jewish  population  of  our  town 
has  imposed  upon  itself  a  systematic  refugee 
tax.  This  source  furnishes  us  3,000  tubles 
monthly.  Of  course  this  is  very  little,  ours  is 
a  poor  town.  Then  we  get  financial  aid  from 
the  Jewish  communities,  which  do  not  have  to 


176 HOW  TO  HELP? 

help  the  deported  directly.  We  have  received 
several  thousand  rubles  from  Smolensk,  Petro- 
grad,  Moscow,  and  elsewhere." 

"And  how  about  the  Russian  population, 
does  it  render  you  any  assistance?" 

"No,  its  attitude  toward  the  deported  is  at 
best  indifferent,  and  at  worst  hostile." 

"And  the  Jews,  do  they  not  protest  against 
this  new  tax?" 

"Oh,  no,  not  in  the  least.  You  have  no  idea 
to  what  an  extent  the  feeling  of  solidarity 
grows  among  us  in  such  cases.  Here  is  an 
instance.  A  train  with  the  deported  arrived 
here  yesterday.  It  was  Saturday.  That  is, 
as  you  know,  a  sacred  day  for  the  Jews. 
Nevertheless,  all  our  Jewish  coachmen  came  to 
the  station  to  take  the  newcomers  to  the  town. 
We  have  asked  them  to  come  to-day  to  get  paid 
for  their  services.  Not  one  of  them  appeared. 
And  so  it  has  been  all  along.  There  is  not  a 
Jewish  coachman  in  the  town  who  would  take 
money  in  such  a  case.  On  the  contrary,  they 
would  be  insulted  if  they  were  not  asked  to  do 
their  bit.  When  the  first  train  arrived,  the 
present  self-taxation  was  not  yet  in  existence. 
We  received  the  telegram  suddenly.  Nothing 


CATHERINE  KUSKOVA       177 

was  in  readiness.  Our  young  people  got  busy 
and  started  canvassing  the  Jewish  houses. 
And  at  once  people  brought  all  they  could: 
tea,  sugar,  eggs,  milk.  We  met  the  hungry 
ones  with  full  hands.  No,  we  cannot  complain 
against  the  Jews;  they  do  all  they  can,  even 
the  poorest." 

The  representative  shows  me  a  heap  of  tele- 
grams. Their  contents  are  brief:  "To  Rabbi 
so-and-so.  Meet  900;  meet  1000;  meet  1100." 
Only  the  numbers  differ.  .  .  . 

"And  where  do  you  house  those  who  remain 
here?" 

"Well,  we  accommodate  them  in  the  Jewish 
school,  in  private  homes,  in  rooms  hired  for  the 
purpose.  But  here  we  met  with  a  new 
obstacle.  Our  town  is  situated  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  river  Dnyepr.  Now  a  new  order  was 
issued  to  the  effect  that  the  deported  should 
settle  exclusively  on  the  left  bank.  We  had 
trouble  enough,  I  warrant  you.  Fortunately, 
the  local  authorities  have  shown  us  some  con- 
sideration and  postponed  the  second  deporta- 
tion. .  .  .  But  to  entrain  worn-out  people  and 
send  them  anew  into  the  unknown, — it  is  pain- 
ful even  to  imagine  it.  Think  of  it:  to  grow 


178 HOW  TO  HELP? 

accustomed  to  the  place,  to  the  people  who  take 
care  of  you, — and  then  again  a  train,  a  flashing 
of  a  station,  and  the  final  outrage  of  the  arrival. 
Many  say:  'Better  to  die  than  to  resume  our 
road  again.' 

"But  we  are  forced  to  send  them  further, 
although  nowadays  it  is  hard  to  place  the 
deported;  all  the  towns  are  crowded,  the  con- 
gestion leads  to  diseases.  Here,  too,  we  have 
had  several  deaths.  .  .  ." 

"Tell  me,"  I  said  finally,  "but  you  know,  at 
least  approximately,  why  these  people  are 
deported?  It  is  impossible  that  this  should  be 
done  for  no  earthly  reason,  simply  because  they 
happen  to  be  Jews.  .  .  ." 

How  great  was  my  repentance  that  I  put 
this  naive  question!  I  shall  never,  never  for- 
get the  eyes  which  turned  on  me.  There  was 
in  them  a  burning  pain  and  another  question: 
"Yes,  for  what  crime?  If  we  only  knew  it. 
.  .  .  Perhaps,  you  will  tell  us?  You  are 
a  Russian,  you  are  in  a  better  position  to 
know.  .  .  ." 

I  got  up  quickly,  shook  hands,  and  left  in 
silence,  with  a  feeling  of  repulsion  for  myself 
and  shame  for  my  helplessness.  .  .  . 


THE  HOMELESS  ONES 


Sergey  Yakovlevich  Yelpatyevsky  is  a  pop- 
ular writer  of  realistic,  and  humanitarian  tales 
and  sketches.  In  his  youth  he  was  exiled  to 
Siberia,  and  in  1910  Tie  was  imprisoned.  He 
was  born  in  1854* 


THE  HOMELESS  ONES 

BY  S.  YELPATYEVSKY 


A  PARTY  of  Jews  was  brought  to  the 
province  of  Tavrida.     Officially  they 
are  called  "the  deported" ;  the  news- 
papers refer  to  them  as  "the  homeless  ones." 
At  first  came  three  thousand  Jews  from  the 
province  of  Kovno.     They  were  followed  by 
Kurland  Jews,  and  now  about  seven  thousand 
Jews  have  been  settled  in  the  government  of 
Tavrida.     Other  parties  are  expected.  .  .  . 

They  had  wandered  a  long  time  before  they 
reached  their  new  place  of  residence.  Ob- 
viously, the  authorities  who  handled  the  de- 
portation thought  only  of  how  to  get  rid  of 
the  Jews,  and  those  on  whom  the  newcomers 
were  thrust  had  not  been  informed  in  time  and 
did  not  know  how  to  arrange  to  take  care  of 
them. 

181 


182       THE  HOMELESS  ONES 

The  first  party,  three  thousand  strong, 
stayed  a  while  at  Melitopol,  then  they  were 
transported  to  Simferopol  where  they  re- 
mained five  days,  and  were  finally  distributed 
over  the  towns  and  townlets  of  northern 
Crimea. 

It  is  told  that  one  of  the  parties  was  as- 
signed to  Yekaterinoslav,  but  the  authorities 
refused  to  accept  the  people  and  ordered  them 
to  proceed  further.  The  local  papers  report 
that  a  group  of  deported  Jews  was  transported 
from  Pavlograd  to  Jankoy,  then,  according  to 
an  instruction  from  the  Ministry  of  the  In- 
terior they  were  shipped  to  Voronezh.  .  .  . 

There  are  many  old  men  and  women,  many 
girls  and  mothers,  and  a  large  number  of  chil- 
dren in  the  party  which  has  been  brought  here. 
All  of  them  are  miserable  and  exhausted,  a 
number  are  ill,  either  because  they  had  been 
sick  when  the  catastrophe  overtook  them  or 
because  they  fell  ill  on  the  way,  and  there  are 
many  pregnant  women  among  them.  As  a 
result  of  their  long  wanderings,  wives  have 
lost  their  husbands  and  mothers  their  chil- 
dren and  they  eagerly  question  everybody 
about  those  dear  to  them. 


S.  YELP ATYEV SKY  183 

Little  has  been  written  in  the  newspapers 
about  the  Jews  deported  from  the  zone  of  mil- 
itary activities,  and  so  far  little  has  been  heard 
of  either  the  state  or  the  social  organisations 
coming  to  the  assistance  of  these  "war  suffer- 
ers," who  feel  the  burden  of  war  even  more 
heavily  than  those  who  fled  from  the  war- 
stricken  districts  on  their  own  account.  There 
was  a  vague  statement  that  the  Pirogov  So- 
ciety is  aiding  the  Jews  deported  to  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Poltava  and  that  meagre  sums 
were  contributed  by  the  Union  of  Towns  and 
the  Ministry  of  the  Interior, — that  is  all  the 
newspapers  have  so  far  reported. 

The  burden  of  taking  care  of  the  newcom- 
ers fell  entirely  on  the  local  Jewish  communi- 
ties. It  was  a  heavy  burden,  for  there  are 
no  more  than  about  twenty  thousand  Jewish 
families  in  the  entire  government  of  Tavrida. 
These  twenty  thousand  families  had  to  take 
care  and  to  support  seven  thousand  homeless 
people,  mostly  small  tradesmen  and  peddlers 
who  had  had  no  time  to  liquidate  their  busi- 
nesses and  who  could  not  take  along  any  prop- 
erty, for  bedding  was  the  only  thing  they  were 
allowed  to  carry. 


184       THE  HOMELESS  ONES 

They  had  to  find  housing  facilities  in  all 
haste,  to  organise  transportation  and  medical 
aid,  and  to  solve  the  food  and  employment 
problems.  An  attempt  was  made  to  utilise 
the  deported  in  agriculture,  in  which  labour  is 
nowadays  exceedingly  scarce  in  Crimea.  But 
the  old  people  and  the  children  are  not  fit  for 
agricultural  work  and  it  would  take  too  long 
to  train  the  able-bodied  women.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  largest  and  more  prosperous  Cri- 
mean towns,  such  as  Simferopol  and  Sebas- 
topol,  Yalta,  Yevpatoria,  and  Theodosia, 
where  the  deported  Jews  could  easily  find  em- 
ployment, are  closed  to  the  newcomers.  Only 
the  smaller  and  poorer  towns  and  townlets 
where  even  the  local  Jews  can  scarcely  get  em- 
ployment, are  put  at  the  disposal  of  the  new- 
comers as  their  places  of  residence.  There 
was  even  a  project  to  settle  a  portion  of  these 
people  in  the  city  of  Perekop.  This  town 
counts  only  one  Jewish  family  among  its  pop- 
ulation. It  consists  of  a  prison  and  several 
deserted  shanties,  and  reminds  one  of  that 
legendary  Siberian  town,  which  was  made  up 
of  a  single  pillar  erected  as  an  indication  of 
the  site  where  the  city  was  supposed  to  stand. 


S.  YELPATYEVSKY  185 

The  local  Jewish  communities  spend  about 
fifty  thousand  rubles  monthly  on  feeding  the 
deported.  This  sum  does  not  include  the  ex- 
penses of  transportation  and  housing.  The 
local  communities  applied  to  the  Petrograd 
Committee,  but  it  took  upon  itself  only  fifteen 
thousand  rubles.  The  remaining  thirty-five 
thousand  are  contributed  by  the  Jews,  who 
have  also  to  support  their  specific  cultural  in- 
stitutions as  well  as  municipal  institutions  of 
a  general  character. 

The  representatives  of  the  Simferopol  Jew- 
ish community  applied  to  the  Governor  of 
Tavrida  for  financial  help.  I  do  not  know 
whether  they  were  successful.  Meanwhile, 
other  parties  of  deported  Jews  are  expected 
here,  and  how  the  Jews  will  be  able  to  handle 
them,  is  more  than  I  can  tell. 

The  War  has  ruined  many  homes  and  made 
many  men,  women,  and  children  homeless. 
But  it  would  hardly  be  an  exaggeration  to 
say  that  fate  has  been  most  ruthless  to  these 
deported  Jews.  The  so-called  "refugees," 
after  all,  acted  freely;  they  brought  with  them, 
if  not  what  they  wanted  at  least  what  they  had 
time,  what  they  were  able  to  take;  they  could 


186       THE  HOMELESS  ONES 

go  wherever  there  was  work.  The  refugees 
were  everywhere  welcomed  and  helped  by  both 
the  authorities  and  the  public  organisations. 
Special  days  for  the  soliciting  of  donations 
were  appointed  and  large  sums  collected. 
Wherever  they  went  people  tried  to  alleviate 
their  sufferings.  But  the  deportation  of  the 
Jews  took  place  as  if  on  the  sly,  without  at- 
tracting any  one's  attention,  without  engaging 
the  sympathies  of  the  people  at  large  to  the 
degree  which  might  be  expected. 

The  deported  proved  a  heavy  burden  not 
only  for  the  Jewish  but  also  for  the  Gentile 
population  of  the  humble  villages  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  Tavrida,  which  were  flooded  by 
the  newcomers.  The  prices  of  food,  and  the 
rent  soared  up,  and  competition  among  trades- 
men and  small  merchants  grew  more  ruthless, 
— in  a  word,  life  here  became  much  harder 
than  the  War  alone  would  have  made  it. 


II 

As  one  observes  these  throngs  of  old  men, 
children  and  pregnant  women  who  are  de- 
ported and  tossed  from  one  end  of  the  coun- 


S.  YELPATYEVSKY  187 

try  to  the  other,  simply  because  they  are  Jews, 
one  wonders  to  whom  it  brings  profit  or  happi- 
ness. It  is  clear  that  it  does  no  one  any  good 
and  no  one  finds  this  wholesale  deportation 
either  just  or  necessary. 

"In  discussing  the  deportation  of  Jews  the 
Minister  of  the  Interior  pointed  out  that  this 
measure  was  not  justified  by  the  actual  behavi- 
our of  the  Jewish  population,  which  is  in  gen- 
eral loyal  to  the  country  and  cannot  bear 
responsibility  for  the  actions  of  criminal  in- 
dividuals, of  whom  unfortunately  no  national- 
ity is  free"  (Yuzhnyia  Vyedomosti,  No  10). 
The  same  communication  contains  the  follow- 
ing statements:  "It  was  asserted  that  the 
wholesale  accusation  of  the  Jews  as  traitors  is 
wholly  groundless.  ...  In  view  of  this  the 
council  of  Ministers,  by  an  overwhelming  ma- 
jority, decided  to  make  intercession  to  put  an 
end  to  the  deportation  of  the  Jews." 

Whether  the  Council  of  Ministers  has  in- 
terceded and  whether  its  efforts  were  crowned 
with  success, — I  know  not.  The  papers  pub- 
lished several  orders  whereby  separate  groups 
of  deported  Jews  were  permitted  to  return  to 
their  former  places  of  residence, — for  instance, 


188        THE  HOMELESS  ONES 

the  deported  Galician  Jews  were  allowed  to 
return  to  Galicia, — but  there  was  no  general 
rescript  which  would  put  an  end  to  the  depor- 
tation. .  .  . 

The  wholesale  deportation  of  the  Jews 
caused  a  great  perplexity  among  the  popula- 
tion of  Crimea.  Even  people  who  are  not 
over-sensitive  to  problems  of  truth  and  justice 
and  whose  sympathies  are  far  from  being 
broad,  show  signs  of  being  stirred  up.  Sup- 
pose the  Council  of  Ministers  is  mistaken, 
they  say,  and  the  presence  of  the  Jews  in  the 
governments  of  Kovno  and  Kurland  is  really 
a  danger  for  the  State,  but  then  do  not  Ger- 
mans live  in  those  provinces,  in  even  larger 
numbers  than  Jews?  Time  and  again  we  read 
in  the  newspapers  of  the  friendly  reception 
of  the  German  armies  by  the  German  popu- 
lation of  Kurland.  There  were  also  regis- 
tered cases  where  penalties  were  imposed  on 
individual  persons  who  either  showed  too 
great  an  enthusiasm  for  the  German  troops 
or  rendered  them  material  services.  Never- 
theless, nothing  was  heard  about  the  German 
population  of  the  Government  of  Kurland  be- 
ing deported  in  a  wholesale  manner, — at  least, 


S.  YELPATYEVSKY  189 

not  a  single  train  with  Kurland  Germans  has 
reached  Crimea. 

On  the  other  hand, — so  thinking  people 
keep  on  arguing, — if  the  Jews  have  proved  to 
be  more  German  than  the  Germans  them- 
selves, and  the  Teutonic  population  of  Kur- 
land act  like  loyal  Russian  subjects,  why  then 
liquidate  the  land  owned  by  the  Crimean  Ger- 
mans, who  have  been  living  in  Crimea  for  more 
than  a  century,  who  have  never  shown  any 
disloyalty  to  Russia,  who,  furthermore,  are 
separated  from  the  German  frontier  by  thou- 
sands of  versts  and  who  are,  therefore,  by  no 
means  able  to  inform  the  Germans  from  Ger- 
many about  the  movement  of  our  troops  in  the 
provinces  of  Kurland  and  Kovno. 

And  once  more  rises  the  question:  "In 
whose  interests  is  all  this  done?" 

The  matter  has  also  another  aspect.  How 
many  Jews  were  deported — tens  or  hundreds 
of  thousands — no  one  knows  exactly;  but  see- 
ing the  large  masses  which  are  being  shifted 
from  place  to  place,  people  wonder  how  many 
cars  were  necessary  to  transport  all  these 
throngs.  And  then  it  occurs  to  them  that  all 
these  trains  could  bring  in  enormous  cargoes 


190       THE  HOMELESS  ONES 

of  coal,  sugar,  kerosene  and  other  wares  which 
are  so  badly  needed  here,  and  carry  away  grain 
and  fruit,  which  are  needed  elsewhere,  thus 
making  life  more  livable  in  many  corners  of 
our  vast  country. 

And  people  who  have  the  enviable  capacity 
of  not  losing  their  equanimity  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, remark  that  in  this  fashion  the 
Jewish  problem  is  being  settled  and  the  Pale 
of  Settlement  removed. 

"Here  already  the  provinces  of  Voronezh 
and  Penza  are  opened  to  Jews.  .  .  .  Little  by 
little  all  of  Russia  will  be  opened  up.  .  .  ." 


THE  JEW 


Mikail  Petrovich  Artzibashef,  the  author 
of  Sanine  was  born  in  the  year  1878  in  South- 
ern Russia.  He  is  widely  read  both  in  his  own 
country  and  outside  of  its  borders.  In  1905  he 
took  part  in  the  revolutionary  movement,  and 
was  indicted,  but  escaped  punishment  because 
of  the  temporary  success  of  the  popular  move- 
ment at  the  end  of  that  year. 


THE  JEW 

(A  STORY) 
BY  M.  ARTZIBASHEF 

IT  so  happened  that  the  second  platoon  of 
the  third  squad  of  the  Ashkadar  regiment 
found  itself  completely  cut  off  from  the 
main  body  of  the  army,  and  this  without  the 
loss  of  a  single  cartridge  or  soldier. 

How  this  came  about,  and  why  a  group  of 
men,  fifteen  or  twenty  strong,  had  suddenly 
become  an  independent  fighting  unit,  none  of 
them  could  tell. 

At  the  outset,  the  entire  Ashkadar  regiment 
zealously  trudged  throughout  the  long  autumn 
night  along  an  interminable  road,  leading  no 
one  knew  where,  into  the  dark,  damp,  and 
hostile  distance.  To  smoke  or  to  converse  was 
forbidden.  In  the  dark,  the  black  mass  of  the 
regiment,  bristling  with  its  bayonets  like  some 
huge,  porcupine-like  creature,  crawled  steadily 
onward,  filling  the  air  with  the  shuffling  of  in- 
numerable feet.  The  men  kept  stumbling 

193 


194  THE  JEW 


over  each  other,  and  swore  viciously  in  half 
tones ;  they  slipped  in  the  mud  and  sank  knee- 
deep  into  the  wheel-tracks  filled  with  cold 
water.  "Some  road!"  they  sighed  quietly. 

At  dawn  the  regiment  was  brought  to  a  halt 
and  was  stretched  along  the  edge  of  a  wide 
potato  field,  which  the  soldiers  had  never  seen 
before.  It  was  drizzling  with  sickening  per- 
sistence, and  the  dark-blue  distances,  mildly 
sloping  and  mournful,  were  blurred  in  the  haze 
of  the  rain.  On  both  sides,  as  far  as  eye  could 
reach,  ranks  of  grey  officers  and  soldiers  were 
wretchedly  soaking  in  the  rain.  Water  was 
dripping  from  their  sullen  faces  and  it  looked 
as  though  they  were  all  weeping  over  their  fate 
— the  fate  which  had  cast  them  upon  this 
strange,  unknown,  God-forsaken  field.  In  a 
few  hours  many  of  them  will  perhaps  be  lying 
dead  amidst  the  half -rotted  potato  stems  on  the 
wet  soil  with  their  pallid  faces  upturned  to  the 
cold  heavens,  the  very  ones  which  now  weep 
also  over  their  dear,  distant  country. 

Behind,  a  battery  crew  was  vainly  attempt- 
ing to  set  the  cannon  which  were  sinking  into 
the  soaked  plough-land.  One  could  hear  the 
hoarse  angry  voices,  the  cracking  of  whips,  and 


M.  ARTZIBASHEF  195 

the  heavy,  strained  snorting  of  horses.  In 
front  of  them  lone  officers  wandered  in 
drenched  cloaks  in  the  rain;  still  farther  behind 
the  curtain  of  rain  and  the  thick  fog  there 
rumbled  cannons  and  it  was  impossible  to  tell 
whether  they  belonged  to  the  enemy  or  not. 
At  times  the  shooting  seemed  to  come  from 
af  ar-off  on  the  right.  Then  the  rumble  of  the 
guns  was  deep  and  muffled  like  the  sound  of 
heavy  iron  balls  rolling  over  the  ground;  at 
other  times,  the  discharges  were  quite  near  and 
rent  the  air  with  a  crash,  bursting  over  the 
men's  very  heads,  as  it  were. 

The  commander  of  the  squad  stood  right  in 
front  of  his  men  and  kept  lighting  cigarettes 
shielding  them  with  the  skirts  of  his  cloak.  He 
did  it  so  often  that  it  seemed  as  if  he  had  been 
vainly  attempting  to  light  the  same  cigarette 
for  the  last  three  hours.  The  soldiers  were 
attentively  looking  at  his  back  and  were  all 
morbidly  anxious  to  help  him.  It  was  cold 
and  damp,  and  they  felt  an  incessant,  nauseat- 
ing gnawing  in  the  pit  of  the  stomach.  It  was 
not  fear  but  an  indefinite  anguish,  a  sort  of 
the-sooner-over-the-better  feeling. 

Several  hours  passed  in  this  manner,  but 


196  THE  JEW 


towards  noon  it  all  changed  abruptly. 
Though  the  sky  was  still  as  grey  as  before  and 
it  drizzled  continuously,  it  grew  lighter,  the 
clouds  in  one  spot  became  white  and  shining 
and  one  felt  that  the  sun  was  somewhere  behind 
them.  But  amidst  this  cold  white  light  a  dis- 
quieting feeling  pervaded  the  atmosphere  and 
the  gnawing  anxiety  was  turning  into  unbear- 
able agony.  Suddenly,  an  aide-de-camp 
dashed  past  on  a  horse,  covered  with  froth  and 
fuzzy  with  dampness.  Officers  began  to 
scurry  back  and  forth;  sharp  commands  were 
heard;  and  the  bugles  resounded. 

"Well,  comrades!"  .  .  .  said  some  one  in 
the  ranks  in  a  high,  false  tone  of  voice. 
Every  one  heard  this  exclamation  and  under- 
stood it,  but  no  one  turned  around  to  see  where 
it  came  from.  The  grey  mass  of  people  sud- 
denly stirred,  gave  a  sigh,  surged  like  the  sea 
whipped  by  a  gale,  and,  sinking  at  each  step 
into  the  mud,  the  entire  regiment  rolled  for- 
ward, over  the  expanse  of  the  shoreless  fields 
which  now  suddenly  looked  strange  and  dread- 
ful. The  soldiers,  their  faces  haggard  and 
queer,  were  crossing  themselves  as  they  ran. 
They  marched  in  disorder,  and  when  they  were 


M.  ARTZIBASHEF  197 

stopped  on  the  hill-crest,  they  turned  the  regi- 
ment into  a  confused  mob  of  breathless  and 
perplexed  men.  Some  even  forgot  to  lower 
their  rifles. 

Before  them  the  hazy  network  of  rain  was 
still  hanging  and  the  distances  stretched, 
strange  and  hostile.  But  now  the  fields  were 
astir  with  flickering  pale  flames  and  a  ceaseless 
scattered  cracking  of  guns.  In  the  grey  sky 
a  small  black  dot  was  discernible,  seemingly 
motionless,  but  changing  in  size.  When  it 
grew  larger,  a  faint  buzzing  was  heard  from 
above  and  made  the  soldiers  turn  their  grey, 
ghastly  faces  upward.  .  .  .  Then  a  mighty 
buzzing  suddenly  resounded  behind  the  regi- 
ment, and  a  Russian  aeroplane  flew  over  the 
heads  of  the  men  like  a  drenched  bird.  As  the 
aeroplane  rose  higher  and  higher,  the  soldiers 
watched  the  distance  between  it  and  the  small 
black  dot  far  up  in  the  sky  grow  smaller  and 
smaller. 

Voices  were  now  heard  from  the  ranks  and 
when  the  black  dot  was  rapidly  beginning  to 
grow  smaller,  sinking,  as  it  were,  in  the  sky  and 
approaching  the  horizon,  those  voices  became 
loud  and  gay. 


198  THE  JEW 


"He  don't  like  it,  what!  See  him  run  for 
his  life!  Well  done!  Fine  fellows!"  .  .  . 
was  heard  along  the  ranks. 

The  soldiers  suddenly  became  lively  and  for 
a  moment  forgot  about  themselves  and  the 
uncertain  fate  that  was  in  store  for  them. 

"Why  not  put  you  on  that  aeroplane,  Yer- 
milich!  .  .  .  You'd  be  quite  handy  at  it, 
wouldn't  you!"  the  soldiers  were  poking  fun  at 
each  other. 

All  at  once  a  confused  many-voiced  cry  and 
a  disorderly  crackling  of  rifles  was  heard  ahead 
of  them;  then  a  crowd  of  soldiers  came  running 
from  that  direction,  at  first  singly,  then  in 
groups,  and  finally  in  a  mass.  They  belonged 
to  another  regiment  of  the  same  division.  One 
could  discern  from  afar  their  wide-open  eyes, 
rounded  mouths,  and  an  expression  of  frantic 
terror  on  their  pale  faces. 

The  officers  of  the  Ashkadar  regiment,  wav- 
ing their  swords  and  yelling  something  indis- 
tinct, were  running  over  the  washed-out  field 
to  meet  the  running  men,  but  the  grey  crowd 
momentarily  knocked  them  down,  trampled 
upon  them,  completely  covered  them,  and 
mingled  itself  with  the  Ashkadar  men.  And 


M.  ARTZIBASHEF  199 

everything  that,  but  a  while  ago,  was  so  clear 
and  important  now  became  confused  and 
meaningless. 

Like  the  waters  that  wash  off  a  dam  pierced 
in  but  a  single  point,  even  so  did  the  running 
soldiers  confuse  and  sweep  away  the  regiment. 
The  Ashkadar  men  themselves  were  partly 
infected  by  the  panic  and  began  to  run  they 
knew  not  why,  apparently  possessed  by  that 
mysterious  power  which  is  transmitted  from 
man  to  man  and  which  pushes  one  from  be- 
hind and  compels  him  to  run  farther  and  far- 
ther, aimlessly  and  blindly. 

The  entire  mass  of  men  started  down  the 
slope,  but  having  encountered  the  battery  with 
a  crew  yelling  and  waving  their  hands,  it 
swerved  aside.  Then  as  this  mass  ran  into  the 
regular  line  of  soldiers,  who  were  rapidly  com- 
ing to  meet  them,  their  rifles  carried  at  charge, 
it  threw  itself  to  one  side,  then  to  the  other, 
then  backwards  and  forwards  and  finally  scat- 
tered over  the  fields,  filling  the  air  with  mad 
outcries  and  disorderly  shooting.  It  was  at 
that  very  time  that  the  second  platoon  of  the 
third  squad  strayed  from  its  regiment  and  its 
officers.  Seventeen  in  all,  instinctively  keep- 


200  THE  JEW 


ing  together,  they  found  themselves  outside  of 
the  battle-field  in  a  narrow  loamy  ravine  over- 
grown with  dwarfish  trees.  The  ravine  was 
deep  and  had  washed-out  clay  slopes.  High 
above  it  stretched  a  muddy,  uneven  strip  of 
grey  sky,  which  poured  an  unceasing  rain  upon 
the  soaked  red  clay,  upon  the  small  wet  birch 
trees,  and  the  group  of  soldiers,  who  had  lost 
their  way  and  driven  by  inertia  were  hurrying 
further  downward. 

The  soldiers,  all  reservists,  were  thick-set, 
bearded  and  pock-marked  peasants  from  the 
governments  of  Kostroma  and  Novgorod  and 
among  them,  was  a  dark  little  Jew,  Hershel 
Mak,  who  alone  thought  and  planned  for  the 
rest  of  them.  All  these  country  people  taken 
right  from  the  plough  were  unable  to  grasp 
how  it  all  happened,  and  were  not  even  sure 
whether  anything  had  happened  at  all.  They 
could  not  tell  whether  there  was  a  battle  or 
not,  whether  it  was  good  or  bad  to  be  left  with- 
out officers  in  this  confounded  ravine,  and 
what  would  come  of  it  all.  Only  Hershel 
Mak  understood  that  there  was  a  battle,  that 
the  front  ranks  came  right  under  the  cross- 
fire of  the  machine-guns,  that  a  panic  resulted 


M.  ARTZIBASHEF  201 

and  that  the  Ashkadar  regiment  was  knocked 
off  its  feet  by  a  crowd  of  runaways.  He  knew 
that  the  regiment  was  broken  up  without  a 
shot  and  that  now  they  were  left  to  their  own 
fate,  in  a  place  which  might  well  be  within  the 
very  centre  of  the  enemy's  position.  Hershel 
Mak  was  well  aware  of  the  fact  that  for  the 
present  no  one  would  or  could  worry  about 
them  and  that  they  must  alone  disentangle 
themselves  from  this  mess, — and  his  versatile 
mind  began  at  once  to  work  to  the  utmost  of 
its  ability. 

The  rain  was  rushing  in  murmuring  streams 
down  the  slopes  of  the  ravine  and  along  its 
bottom,  and  the  noise  of  the  water  drowned 
the  crackling  of  the  machine-guns  and  the 
thundering  of  the  cannon.  The  ravine  ex- 
tended further  down,  and  apparently  into  the 
forest,  for  the  trees  were  becoming  thicker, 
and  on  the  ground  a  deep  layer  of  half-decayed 
leaves  was  mingled  with  the  clay.  Once  or 
twice,  a  heavy  buzzing  was  heard  overhead, 
and  the  soldiers  involuntarily  lifted  their  eyes, 
but  there  was  no  aeroplane  in  sight,  and  one 
could  not  tell  whether  it  was  the  enemy  or 
not. 


202  THE  JEW 


Hershel  Mak  was  walking  behind  the  others, 
and  was  deep  in  thought. 

"What  are  we  going  to  do  when  we  meet  the 
enemy?  When  we  were  with  the  regiment, 
we  knew  what  to  do.  .  .  .  But  we  don't  know 
the  high  military  rules !  Maybe,  we  shouldn't 
fight  at  all, — maybe,  according  to  the  high  mil- 
itary rules  it  is  necessary  to  retreat  a  bit?  ... 
How  is  one  to  tell  I'd  like  to  know." 

Just  then  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  stream 
which  in  its  overflowing  formed  shallow  muddy 
puddles  something  dark  began  to  flicker 
among  the  trees,  and  the  enemy  soldiers  in 
light  grey  cloaks,  and  varnished  helmets  pro- 
tected with  linen  covers  came  forward.  This 
was  an  enemy  detachment  which  had  also 
strayed  away  from  its  regiment.  A  non-com- 
missioned officer,  husky  and  red-bearded,  was 
in  charge  of  it.  The  Germans'  gait  was  also 
uncertain.  They  walked  with  rifles  carried  at 
charge,  timidly  looking  about  and  were  just  go- 
ing to  stop  to  talk  over  their  situation,  when 
they  noticed  the  reddish-grey  cloaks  and  the 
bayonets. 

"Halt!"  yelled  out  a  flaxen-haired  Kos- 
troma peasant. 


M.  ARTZIBASHEF  208 

He  did  it  so  forcefully  that  two  crows  flew 
off  in  fright  and  rose  high  above  the  ravine. 

Hershel  Mak  nearly  fell  into  the  water. 
The  red  and  the  grey  soldiers  separated  by 
about  fifty  steps  and  a  small,  turbid,  rain- 
beaten  rivulet  were  eyeing  each  other  with 
amazement  rather  than  with  terror.  Thin 
scattered  cries  of  terror  and  dismay  were 
heard  from  the  other  side,  and  all  at  once  it 
grew  still  with  an  ominous  strained  stillness. 

"Listen  .  .  .  eh,"  .  .  .  whispered  Hershel 
Mak,  touching  the  gun  of  the  Kostroma  re- 
servist. But  at  this  very  moment,  the  soldiers 
as  if  in  response  to  a  command  stepped  back 
a  pace  or  two,  got  down  on  their  knees  and  an 
uneven  crackling  of  guns  rent  the  damp  air. 

The  flaxen-haired  Kostroma  peasant  and 
another  soldier,  a  father  of  a  large  family, 
nick-named  "uncle,"  threw  up  their  arms  and 
fell  heavily  upon  the  soaked  clay. 

The  first  was  killed  on  the  spot,  but  as  to 
the  "uncle,"  he  clutched  his  abdomen,  sat  up 
and  began  to  howl  in  a  thin,  piercing  voice: 
"Bro-o-thers!" 

And  the  soldiers  were  seized  with  a  savage 
anger,  immense  and  terrible,  similar  to  the 


204  THE  JEW 


nervous  fury  with  which  one  tramples  upon  a 
snake.  Scattered  bullets  began  flying  amidst 
the  wet  trees,  and  wild  outcries  filled  the  air. 
The  bullets  hissed  far  over  the  forest  and  sank 
with  a  swish  into  the  clay ;  birch  leaves,  quietly 
circling,  were  f  ailing  to  the  ground  where  three 
light-grey  figures  were  writhing  in  convul- 
sions of  pain  and  horror. 

The  husky  non-commissioned  officer  was  the 
first  among  these  to  cease  stirring.  He  lay 
there  with  his  face  stuck  in  the  cold  mud  of 
the  stream.  A  volley  of  bullets,  still  more  un- 
even than  the  first  answered  it,  and  presently 
single  shots,  interrupted  by  furious  outcries 
of  pain,  by  groans  of  the  wounded  and  rattling 
of  the  dying  came  from  both  sides. 

Pale  flames  flickered  everywhere;  the  bark 
was  being  ripped  from  the  small  birch  trees; 
here  and  there  were  seen  ghastly  distorted 
faces  and  shivering  hands  hurriedly  fussing 
with  the  guns.  The  biting  odour  of  blood  and 
gun-powder  filled  the  air,  and  a  bluish  smoke 
rose  slowly  to  the  sky,  passing  through  the 
twigs  shivering,  as  it  were,  with  fear,  and  under 
the  birches  there  lay  two  groups  of  men, 
charging  their  guns,  shooting,  slaying  one  an- 


M.  ARTZIBASHEF  205 

other,  and  strewing  the  wet  earth  with  crip- 
pled, writhing,  moaning  bodies. 

Suddenly  the  shooting  ceased  just  as  unex- 
pectedly as  it  had  begun.  There  was  no  one 
upon  the  clearing  except  the  wounded,  and 
the  dead.  The  reddish  soldiers  hid  behind  the 
stones  and  the  grey  behind  the  trees. 

The  fire  ceased.  The  hearts  of  the  men  beat 
rapidly  and  painfully  with  a  vicious  inhuman 
terror,  but  no  one  fired  a  single  shot.  An 
hour  passed  and  then  another.  The  men  lay 
silently  behind  the  stones  and  the  trees,  each 
group  eyeing  the  enemy  sharply  and  closely 
watching  their  slightest  movements. 

"Uncle"  alone,  his  back  leaning  on  a  trunk 
of  a  tree,  was  moaning  plaintively  and  softly 
like  a  fly  caught  in  a  spider's  web.  And  on 
the  other  side  a  young  soldier  was  making 
severe  attempts  to  lift  up  his  body  out  of  the 
mud  puddle,  while  the  eyes  of  his  pale  youth- 
ful face  were  already  covered  with  the  film 
of  death.  But  no  one  paid  the  slightest  atten- 
tion to  either  of  them.  Each  one  felt  upon 
himself  the  keen,  merciless  eye  of  the  enemy 
and  dared  not  budge  or  even  stretch  out  a  be- 


206  THE  JEW 


numbed  foot.  A  grey  soldier  attempted  once 
to  change  his  place,  whereupon  three  shots 
thundered  from  the  other  side,  and  the  man 
only  turned  over  and  remained  still.  Later 
two  men  were  killed,  one  on  each  side,  and 
again  everything  grew  still. 

The  clatter  of  the  rain  alone  was  heard,  as 
though,  invisible  to  the  eye,  some  one  wept  bit- 
terly in  the  forest.  The  hours  were  passing, 
and  the  nervous  tension  grew  intolerable,  as- 
suming the  intensity  of  agony.  It  was  quite 
apparent  that  things  could  not  go  on  in  this 
way  much  longer,  and  every  one  knew  that 
whoever  would  lift  his  head  would  be  killed  on 
the  spot.  Lord  only  knows  the  odd  and  hor- 
rible thoughts  that  were  passing  in  these  ter- 
ror-stricken, muddled  minds. 

Hershel  Mak  felt  very  keenly  that  he  was 
eager  to  live;  that  like  the  rest  of  these  men, 
he  had  a  father  and  mother  and  also  his  own 
little  desires,  remote  from  this  place  and  sacred 
to  him  alone.  He  was  also  sorry  for  "uncle" 
and  for  that  dying  German,  who  lay  in  the 
puddle,  and  who  had  been  killed,  perhaps  by 
a  bullet  from  "uncle's"  rifle. 

The  hours  were  passing  and  the  unbearable 


M.  ARTZIBASHEF  207 

nervous  horror  grew,  and  the  inner  tension, 
terrible  and  so  taut  that  it  seemed  to  be  ready 
to  snap  every  second,  was  beginning  to  turn 
into  a  sort  of  nightmare,  which  makes  one 
shiver  all  over,  which  dims  one's  eyes  with  red 
mist,  which  banishes  all  fear  of  death  and  suf- 
fering and  turns  all  that  is  human  into  an  ele- 
mental, savage  fury. 

At  the  very  moment,  when  the  tension 
reached  its  highest  point  and  the  nightmare 
was  about  to  pass  in  a  ruthless  engagement, 
Hershel  Mak,  unable  to  control  his  strained 
nerves  any  longer  began  to  pray  plaintively 
in  the  tongue  of  his  forefathers.  "Shma 
Israel!  Shma  IsroelF  .  .  .  His  comrades 
did  not  understand  him  and  glanced  at  him  in 
terror,  as  at  a  madman,  but  from  the  opposite 
side  another  frightened  and  plaintive  voice  an- 
swered him  in  Jewish:  "A  Jew!  ...  A 
Jew!  .  .  ." 

Hershel  Mak's  heart  fell  within  him.  The 
mad  joy  that  took  hold  of  him  is  indescribable. 
It  was  undefiled  human  joy  that  filled  him  to 
the  brim,  when  from  the  place  whence  he  ex- 
pected only  death  and  hatred  there  came  fa- 
miliar human  words.  Forgetting  the  deathly 


208  THE  JEW 


peril,  he  sprang  to  his  knees,  threw  up  his  arms 
and  cried  out,  a$  if  responding  to  a  voice  heard 
in  the  desert. 

"I!  ...  I!  ..." 

A  shot  crashed;  but  it  was  only  Mak's  cap, 
that  jumped  up  and  landed  in  the  mud  pud- 
dle. From  beyond  the  stream  and  the  trees 
a  typical  head  with  ears  projecting  from  un- 
der the  varnished  helmet  looked  straight  at 
him. 

"Don't  shoot!  .  .  .  Don't  shoot!"  yelled 
Hershel  Mak  in  Russian,  German  and  Jewish 
all  at  once,  waving  his  hands  frantically.  And 
the  other  Jew,  in  a  long  light-grey  cloak  was 
also  yelling  something  to  his  fellow-soldiers. 
Now  not  one  but  about  ten  pairs  of  eyes  looked 
at  Hershel  Mak,  with  astonishment  and  sud- 
den joy.  A  vague,  faint  hope  was  seen  in 
these  frightened  human  eyes,  which  suddenly 
became  simple  and  sympathetic.  Then  Her- 
shel Mak  and  the  Jew  in  the  light-grey  cloak 
rushed  to  the  clearing  and,  splashing  in  the 
water,  trustingly  ran  to  each  other. 

They  met  between  the  two  ranks  of  still 
hostile  gun-barrels  and  embraced  each  other 
in  a  fit  of  unreasoning  human  gladness. 


M.  ARTZIBASHEF  209 

"Are  you  a  Jew?"  asked  the  grey  soldier. 
They  kept  looking  at  each  other  like  two  old 
friends  who  met  where  they  least  expected  to 
find  each  other. 

In  the  twilight,  after  the  soldiers  gathered 
up  their  dead  and  wounded,  they  went  each 
their  own  way  along  the  ravine,  now  blue  with 
the  evening  fog.  Those  in  the  rear  kept  look- 
ing back  at  the  enemy,  suspiciously  eyeing 
them,  and  nervously  clutching  with  their  hands 
the  cold  muzzles  of  their  guns. 

Only  Hershel  Mak  and  the  Jew  in  the  light- 
grey  cloak  walked  calmly.  Hershel  chattered 
like  a  monkey,  joining  now  one  now  another 
of  the  soldiers.  He  was  saying  something 
about  his  joy,  about  the  great  mission  of 
Judaism.  But  no  one  listened  to  him,  and 
one  of  the  soldiers  said  good-naturedly:  "Go 
to  the  devil,  you  dirty  Jew." 


THE  END 


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